Dashcam Captures TransAsia Airways Plane Clipping Bridge As It Crashes [VIDEO]

Most of the dashcam videos we see appearing on YouTube are captured in Russia, because they really are indispensable for Russian drivers. But the latest to hit the headlines comes from a car traveling along a road bridge in Taipei. It captures the last few moments of a TransAsia Airways plane as it crashes.

The aircraft had only just taken off from Taipei Airport with 58 people on board. As the videos below show, something went very wrong as the plane descends over some nearby buildings, rotates sharply, and ends up clipping the bridge before landing in the Keelung River below.

A rescue operation involving 195 people helped those on board get out, with a number of passengers trapped in the head of the plane. Those who have been rescued report a strong smell of gasoline inside the plane when in flight, and it’s being speculated that the aircraft suffered an engine flameout. The river where the crash occurred is not on a flight path, so it is thought the pilot was attempting a crash landing there. For the most part it seems to have worked, although of the 58 people on board 22 have been confirmed dead.

The black boxes have been recovered, which should help to explain exactly what happened to cause the loss of power and then control. Although a terrible accident, it could have been a lot worse if the pilot hadn’t been so accurate (and probably a bit lucky) with his controlled descent.