Within one day of each other, two international planes have crashed.
TransAsia Airways flight GE222 crashed late Wednesday evening, while attempting to land in stormy weather. Forty-seven passengers are feared dead, out of 54 total passengers and four crew members. The weather from Typhoon Matmo had been tumultuous in Taiwan when flight GE222 was to land. The pilot was given the green light to land, despite hazardous weather and heavy rain, as two planes landed successfully prior to flight GE222.
President Ma Ying-jeou called it “a very sad day in the history of Taiwanese aviation,” and ordered authorities to quickly clarify the details, said a spokesman for his office.
[Image: AP]
An MD-83 Swiftair aircraft
An Air Algerie flight also crashed on Thursday after disappearing off radar approximately 50 minutes after takeoff. The MD-83 Swiftair aircraft was en route to Algiers from Burkina Faso. Of the 116 casualties, six were members of the flight crew.
The pilot requested to change course after encountering heavy thunderstorms with frequent lightning. After the plane fell off the radar, the French military sent two jets to locate the plane. The plane went down about 40 miles from the Malian city of Gao. The military did not give any additional details.