Following the fatal crash last week of a TransAsia plane, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Taiwan ordered a safety review for all airlines after proficiency tests taken by TransAsia pilots yielded bad results.

All the pilots of TransAsia were ordered to take oral proficiency tests on how to handle a plane if its engine failed. However, the result alarmed the CAA because 29 failed or did not take the exam, which represents more than half of the 49 ATR pilots.

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Only 10 pilots actually failed, while the 19 did not take the test because they were either sick or out of the country, reports Reuters.

A CAA officials and an aviator from Uni Air, the competitor of Air Asia, conducted the test.

TransAsia Chief Executive Peter Chen, in turn, said the result is unacceptable and promised to strengthen the training of its aviators, reports the New York Post.

TransAsia Flight GE235 lost power in one of its engine just after it departed from Songshan Airport in Taipei then the second engine's power followed suit, causing the jet to hover just above buildings, hit an overpass with its wings and crashed upside down into shallow waters. The air mishap killed 42 of the 58 people onboard the ill-fate plane, including the pilot and co-pilot.

With the approach of the Chinese New Year on February, more people will fly, prompting Taiwanese Transportation and Communications Minister Chen Jian-Yu to order all local air carriers to check the safety of their flights.

TransAsia is the third-largest airline in Taiwan, but it has poor safety record, logging last week its second air accident in seven months and its fifth crash since 1995.

TagsTaiwan, CAA, TransAsia, plane crash, proficiency test, safety review