Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways offers record compensation to victims

Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways said Monday it had offered record compensation to the families of each passenger killed in a domestic flight even though the cause of the crash is still unclear. The offer of Tw$14.9 million ($496,667) was made to representatives of the 48 victims attending talks at Magong on Penghu Island. Flight GE222 carrying 54 passengers and four crews crashed last month near the airport in Penghu, a scenic island group in the Taiwan Strait. The victims' representatives did not accept the offer on the spot but agreed to give it further consideration, according to an airline statement. ‘As the owner of the plane, we'd like to take responsibility for the deaths and injuries... even though the responsibility for the accident has yet to be clarified,’ said TransAsia Airways president Chooi Yee-Chong. The airline said the compensation would be a record for Taiwan, according to AFP.