Video: Taiwan Plane Crash: Passenger Jet Hits Bridge

BEIJING — Rescue teams in Taiwan continued the somber search for survivors and bodies Thursday after the spectacular crash of a TransAsia Airways propjet captured on dramatic video.

At least 26 people died — but 15 survived — when the plane clipped its left wing on a bridge shortly after taking off from the capital of Taipei and crashed into a nearby Keelung River. Seventeen people remained missing and were feared dead.

Taiwanese rescuers used a massive crane to hoist the French-built ATR 72-600 plane from the shallow, murky river after survivors were brought to safety on rubber rafts or scrambled to the river bank on their own. One injured person was reportedly found in a park along the river, Taiwan News reported.

Wu Jun-Hong, a Taipei Fire Department official coordinating the rescue, said he was not "too optimistic" that more survivors would be found.

Dramatic dashcam footage from vehicles on an elevated highway clearly shows the plane's tragic crash. Some Taiwanese paid homage to the pilot, saying he made a desperate, deliberate choice to avoid the additional casualties likely if the plane had hit nearby apartment buildings, high schools and roads.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/02/04/transasia-airways-taipei-plane-crash/22842757/