The crash was recorded by dashcams in several cars travelling west along the elevated Huandong Viaduct next to the river.

At 11:00, the cloud base at Songshan was about 1,500 ft (460 m), the visibility was unrestricted, and a light breeze was blowing from the east at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4]: 45  They began removing survivors from the rear section of the semisubmerged fuselage and ferried them to shore in inflatable boats.

Divers were forced to cut the seat belts of dead passengers, located mostly in the front section, to remove their bodies.

[21] Some media outlets reported anonymous claims that the pilot had complained of "engine abnormalities" and asked for an inspection of the aircraft prior to take-off, but that the request had been refused.

[22] This assertion has been denied by both TransAsia Airways and the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the former of whom has released the maintenance records for both powerplants, both propellers, and the airframe.

[23] Following the accident, TransAsia Airways changed its website and social media branding to greyscale images, in mourning for the presumed deaths of the passengers.

Immediately after the accident, the president of the Executive Yuan, Mao Chi-kuo, contacted the Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aeronautics Administration to instigate an investigation into the crash, and the minister of national defense to prepare the military for the rescue.

On 5 February 2015, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, released a statement, ordering that accurate information on the aircraft be obtained as quickly as possible, and that "assistance [be provided] in treating the injured".

[27] On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang instructed relevant departments to obtain accurate information from Taipei as quickly as possible.

[5] According to the executive director of the ASC, Thomas Wang, the aircraft's right engine triggered an alarm just 37 seconds after takeoff.

[31] Whereas the crew reported a flameout,[32] according to Wang, data showed the right engine had in fact been moved to idle power.

[1][2] The report also stated that the pilot in command had failed to pass a simulator test in May 2014, partly because he demonstrated insufficient knowledge about the procedure for handling an engine flameout during takeoff.

The loss of engine power during the initial climb and inappropriate flight control inputs by the pilot flying generated stall warnings and activation of the stick pusher to which the crew did not respond in a timely and effective manner.

The loss of power from both engines was not detected and corrected by the crew in time and the aircraft stalled during the attempted restart at an altitude from which they could not recover.

[4] During the investigation, TransAsia Airways disclosed confidential information from the draft report to Next magazine, which published a story in its issue of 11 May 2016.

Ten pilots who failed the engine-out oral test and a further nineteen who did not attend were suspended for one month, pending a retest.

This amount includes emergency relief and funeral allowance, totaling NT$1.4M (US$44,300), already paid to each family.

[43][44] Before this accident, TransAsia Airways Flight 222, which involved another ATR 72-500, crashed during approach as a result of pilot error.