At least 31 people are dead, and 12 missing, from a plane crash in Taiwan on Wednesday. Captured on dash-cam video, the Trans-Asia Airways plane clipped an overpass and went into a river, shortly after takeoff from Taipei.

The flight took off at 11:53 a.m. local time (0253 GMT) from Taipei’s downtown Sungshan Airport en route to the outlying Taiwanese-controlled Kinmen Islands. The pilot issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff, Taiwanese civil aviation authorities said.

The passenger plane then banked sharply over an urban highway, it’s wingtip scraping the top of a taxi before the plane disappears ominously from view and ultimately landed in the Keeling River.

The body of the plane was mostly intact after the crash — but inverted — as survivors struggled to free themselves from the wreckage. Rescuers cut at the fuselage to help them escape. Even small children were pulled alive from the plane, as recuse efforts continued deep into the night.

“There are adults taking care of toddlers. They are safe. Inaudible question from reporter and Children were rescued from the plane already. We got them out from the river using the boat,” Wu Jun-hong, Taipei Fire department spokesperson said.

By the end of Wednesday, there were 15 survivors on the plane that had 58 passengers. More than half of the passengers aboard the TransAsia Airways flight were from mainland China. The airline will likely face tough questions, as this is the second plane crash in six months.

The plane’s black boxes have already been recovered, and the head of TransAsia said he won’t yet speculate on a cause.

“First of all, I want to once again apologize on behalf of TransAsia to the passengers and crew members, who lost their lives in the disaster. Of course, some people still remain missing. We are extremely sorry,” TransAsia CEO Chen Xinde said.

Video shows crash of TransAsia plane
Amateur video shot from the dashboard of a car recorded the moment the TransAsia plane clipped then overpass with its port-side wing.

Dramatic pictures taken by a motorist and posted on Twitter showed the plane cartwheeling over the motorway soon after the turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft took off in apparently clear weather.

The plane appeared to miss apartment buildings by meters. Footage showed a van skidding to a halt on the damaged overpass after barely missing the plane’s wing, with small pieces of the aircraft scattered along the road.

Story compiled from CCTV America and AP reports.

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