A domestic TransAsia Airways flight crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing near Magong airport on the outlying Penghu island of Taiwan today, reports BBC News. There were a total of 54 passengers and four crew on board, Taiwan's CNA news agency reported. According to Bloomberg, 47 people are dead.
Rescue workers are trying to save passengers that are feared trapped in the plane. TransAsia Airways flight GE222 crashed while attempting to land in stormy weather caused by Typhoon Matmo. Typhoon Matmo caused many flights to be cancelled, but the land warning was lifted around 5:30 p.m. local time, around the time the plane took off, BBC reports.
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The ATR 72 turboprop aircraft departed from the southern municipality of Kaohsiung at 5:43 local time (09:43 GMT), but lost contact with controllers at 7:06, CNA said, citing the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The plane was found at Penghu island's Xixi village in flames, local media reported.
Updated at 1:29 p.m. EST with Bloomberg death toll.
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