TransAsia ATR-72 crashes in Tapei

I had that opinion on the first day. Look just below in this thread.

Well, if it was, it wouldn't be the first time.

yep, further in the thread, someone posted the liveatc feed where the pilot radios ATC with mayday and engine flame out... 23:25 of the audio http://archive-server.liveatc.net/rcss/RCSS-Twr-Feb-04-2015-0230Z.mp3

The resulting engine out causing adverse yaw didnt help as the pilot tried to maintain altitude...watch the sink rate comes over the building. Once the aircraft slows more than the MCA (minimum controllable airspeed), the left wing stalls and the aircraft rolls. The pilot did an admirable job setting the aircraft down in what may have been the only choice of clear areas to minimize casualities on the ground.

The ATR props don't turn very fast when they are running. I forget the actual number, but its around 1200 RPM. It looked like the left engine was feathered and the right was running....hence the VMC roll right before impact.

makes sense...if the aircraft lost power, the pilot did the best with what he could.. the river was probably the only place he could set it down, but it looks like it possibly stalled as he was trying to get over the bridge, causing the wing to drop...You can see the sink rate in the video as it comes over the apartment buildings, then rolls left...

No, the pilot didn't make a last hard left. The plane was out of control at that point. We'll see what his airspeed was. The left wing probably stalled with all thrust on the right and P factor pushing further to the left.

Port engine critical.

Well, the talking heads can say what they want, but as there is no GA program in most of these countries, most of these pilots, at least the seniors, are American trained. Now lack of a GA program may deprive them of some of the basics, but from what I have seen, you have to give the devil his due, and the FAA, along with the Airlines, are pretty well toing the mark on training and maintenance, which is why our U.S. crash rate has been so low in the last few years. That monitoring & enforcement seems to have been what is lacking overseas.

Only like dash 7's - wingspan is longer than length

Good observation. We'll soon know.

I guess in the heat of the moment, with little altitude to work with, there is very little room for error.

Glen, further to all the other comments one has to wonder how both pilots could have mis-identified the failed engine. I can understand the need for haste at such a low altitude, but still they were about 1200' agl which would have been adequate to clean the aircraft up and adopt a straight and level flight when the engine failed and if the pilot flying had both feet on the rudder pedals I would have thought the old rule "dead foot = dead engine" would have helped the identification.
Assuming the aircraft departed from runway 28 at Songshan airport at the time of engine failure a gentle change in heading to the NW to follow the Keelong River valley would have given them the advantage of heading for the coast as well as obviating the need to climb. As it happens it seems that the aircraft did track to the right of runway centerline possibly to avoid rising terrain (there is a hill 1970' and 9 nm pretty well straight ahead after take off) which could account for them continuing to climb. The fact is that if they had done NOTHING except concentrating on flying the aircraft S&L at 1200' - 1300', let alone not pull the good engine, they would have survived. I believe the aircraft would have an autofeather prop.
Was the autopilot engaged (which it should not have been) so soon after take off? If it were engaged could that have been one of the reasons for not being able to identify the correct failed engine? Those final moments we see on the video certainly would suggest the aircraft had entered an incipient spin following a stall.

The ATR autofeathers. If everything is working the failed engine autofeathers and the system adds power to the good engine. IF everything is working.

As I said below, CBS reported this morning that both engines were go, but as we discussed, all of us have seen the videos and it looked like the right was cranking, so idk.

The stills pulled from the video in this look like it clipped the building damaging the pilots side horizontal stabilizer.

(this didn't post right - trying to delete the other one)

Having flown in that part of the world quite a bit, let it just suffice to say that it is like the wild west in places and very nationalized, protective of airspace. It has been awhile since I have been over there and while improved, it's still not to where it needs to be. You had to kinda guess on what ATC meant when they told you something, if you could understand them. If you really wanted to piss a controller off, ask him to repeat in
GOOD ENGLISH.

Yep! Just a little over six months since the last fatal TransAsia ATR-72 crash. This airline must have one of the worst safety records in the world.

Brain fail. Poor thought management. Send. <- your post

I'd say failed port engine - not feathered - aircraft below VMCA - loss of control.
Investigators will need to know why engine failed, why props were not feathered, why the crew failed to maintain VMCA. Know for a fact I wouldn't be getting on this airline - period.