The pilot flying a TransAsia Airways jet mistakenly switched off the plane’s only working engine seconds before it crashed on February 4, killing 43 people, Taiwan’s Aviation Safety Council (ASC) said.

A Taiwanese flight with 58 people aboard went sideways, clipped an elevated road and crashed into a river shortly after takeoff from the island’s capital of Taipei, killing at least 12 people.

Police and aviation experts began examining the charred shell of a China Airlines jet in southern Japan today, widening an investigation into why the plane exploded in flames just seconds after the 165 people aboard escaped.

The 157 passengers and eight crew members had barely finished sliding down the emergency chutes of the smoking China Airlines jet today when it suddenly exploded, and flames engulfed the centre of the craft.