Investigation Summary
The accident occurred during the Lunar New Year period, a time of high operational demand in Taiwan. The aircraft had just completed a passenger service to Magong and was being ferried back to Taipei without passengers. During the approach phase, the flight crew was cleared for a visual approach to Runway 10 at Songshan Airport. However, they utilized the ILS (Instrument Landing System) for reference and encountered false signals. The crew followed these erroneous indications without verifying them against other available navigation aids like VOR/DME or maintaining visual contact with the terrain. The investigation also noted that the ferry flight nature of the mission led to a relaxed atmosphere in the cockpit, where casual conversation contributed to a breakdown in sterile cockpit discipline and a loss of situational awareness. The aircraft drifted off course and impacted a hill at Tu-keng.
Final Conclusions
The investigation concluded that the primary cause was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) resulting from pilot error. Specifically, the crew failed to maintain situational awareness and neglected to cross-check navigation aids, leading to an undetected deviation from the assigned approach path.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain (Wang Hongjia)
Pilot Monitoring, age 54
First Officer (Li Guangzhi)
Pilot Flying, age 58
Systems & Failure Modes
Navigation Aids
Ground-based and onboard systems used to determine position; the crew failed to cross-check these, leading to the course deviation.
Situational Awareness
The crew's perception of the aircraft's position and environment; its loss was cited as a primary factor in the CFIT.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was manufactured on 16 November 1994, approximately 2.5 months before the accident.
- 02The flight was a ferry mission with no passengers on board.
- 03Both pilots were highly experienced, with the captain having over 17,000 total flight hours.
- 04The accident occurred during the busy Lunar New Year travel season.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Enhanced Navigation Cross-Checking
The investigation emphasized the necessity for flight crews to cross-check multiple navigation sources (such as VOR, DME, and NDB) rather than relying solely on a single instrument, especially when receiving unexpected or inconsistent ILS signals.
Sterile Cockpit Discipline
TransAsia Airways was encouraged to reinforce sterile cockpit procedures during all phases of flight, including ferry missions, to prevent casual conversation from distracting crews during critical approach phases.