TransAsia Flight 235 Update: Final Crash Victim Recovered In Taiwan

The final victim of the fatal TransAsia Flight 235 crash has been found, nine days after the flight crash landed in Taiwan. The recovery Thursday of the male tourist from China brings the death toll to 43, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said, according to local media Focus Taiwan. Chinese national Chen Rentai was still strapped into his seat and found nearly two miles from the crash site, said the national fire agency as reported by Channel News Asia.

TransAsia held a memorial ceremony and an official funeral for the crash victims on Wednesday, attended by President Ma Ying-jeou and other top city officials. City government agencies also flew their flags at half-mast that day. The relatives of the victims were offered more than $470,000 in compensation for each victim, which many rejected over the amount and the “method” of payment.

The ATR-600 aircraft crashed Feb. 4 into the Keelung River near Taipei, with 58 on board, including the crew. The airline crashed another plane in July, with the recent crash marking its fifth since 1995. Investigations are ongoing over the cause of the crash, even though initial reports cited an “engine flameout,” or the snuffing out of the necessary flames in the plane’s engine. However, Taiwanese officials and analysts have said the preliminary findings seemed to point to the idea that the pilot turned off the remaining functioning engine by mistake in an attempt to restart the malfunctioning one, causing the plane to fall out of the sky.

Taiwan’s aviation authorities have ordered TransAsia pilots to retake proficiency tests. Ten pilots who fly the ATR model that recently crashed have failed the tests were suspended, along with 19 other pilots who did not take the tests. TransAsia has announced it will cancel another 44 flights on Friday following the suspension of its pilots.