Dramatic video footage of the TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 crash in Taipei on Wednesday has received wide media attention, and the taxi driver whose vehicle was struck by the plummeting airplane described how he steered away to survive a close brush with death.
Taxi driver Chou Hsi-tung (周錫東) has been dubbed as the “luckiest cabbie in the world” and the “taxi driver who cheated death” in headlines of major newspapers around the world.
Chou suffered minor concussion with some head injuries, and is still having dizzy spells, while medical staff also had to clean out bits of shattered windshield glass from his right eye.
His passenger, a 26-year-old female surnamed Wang (汪), was recovering in hospital with minor injuries.
Chou’s survival was an amazing feat in itself, as he held on tight to steer the taxi away from the elevated expressway’s shattered concrete barrier to the right side, thus avoiding a bad crash, or worse, plunging into the Keelung River below.
“While I drove on the elevated expressway, the car was hit by something. There was a loud sound, then I felt something big had jammed into my car, and was dragging the vehicle to the right with a powerful force,” he said.
“It dragged my car from the inner lane to the outer lane. I was shocked by what was happening,” he added. “Then I grabbed the steering wheel, using all my strength to control the car from crashing into the concrete barrier.”
“My car did ram into the barrier, and then I managed to steer back into the inner lane. It was then I realized it was an airplane that hit my car,” Chou said.
“If I did not steer the car back away from danger, we could have hit the barrier, and worse still, might have plunged into the river below,” he said.
“I didn’t even see there was an airplane flying there. It felt like a darkness, like black clouds, then suddenly a huge white object appeared right in front of my eyes. It happened very quickly,” he added.
Chou’s company, Crown Taxi (皇冠大車隊), told reporters that he is a reliable worker, and has very good driving skills, adding that he deserves praise for his courage and determination under pressure, while saving the life of himself and his passenger.
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