Horrible Taiwan Plane Crash Caught On Dash Cam

Stills from a dash cam video
of a terrible Taiwan plane crash today.  

Imagine driving down a freeway in a city when from behind the highrises to the left, a plane just misses the buildings, dives down sideways, clips the bridge you're on, then plunges into the river below.

Somebody in Taiwan caught that horrible sight today when a TransAsia flight with 53 passengers and five crew crashed today.  It's all on a dash came video that I've got on the bottom of this post. You'll probably see it all over the news, too.

At least 13 people died and most of the rest of the people on the plane are missing, presumably in the fuselage under the water or swept downstream by the river current.

Some survivors have been pulled from the wreckage.  Reuters says 15 people were rescued. 

One person on the bridge was hurt when the cab he was driving was struck. The plane missed apartment buildings to the left of the highway by just a few feet.

No word on the cause of the crash yet..

Here's the incredible video.

News Anchor Learns Of Friend's Suicide While Reading TelePrompter On Air

My heart goes out to Lee Chingua, a television anchor for Next TV News in Taiwan, who quite possibly had the worst, saddest and most public bad day on the job.

This news anchor in Taiwan learned of her
friend's suicide as she read a TelePrompter
during a newscas. Add caption

She was reading the news off a TelePrompter for a television audience when the scrolling words revealed the breaking news that Taiwanese reporter Erich Shih of CtaTV was found dead of an apparent suicide. 

Chingua was a close friend of Shih. When we learn the news that somebody close to us has died, we want the moment to be private. We want to absorb the huge loss alone, or with a few loved ones near us.

Chingua had to absorb the news while reading the news to a national audience. And somehow she had to remain professional and composed.

Someho, she did it. I don't know how. The words are in Taiwanese, and you can't understand them, but you can see her heart breaking as she reads the news.  (You can click on "cc" at the bottom of the video to get subtitles in English. )

I hope she was taken off the air right after this broadcast, and given the privacy and love she needs.

Her professionalism, though, is incredible. Watch:

Safe? Bottle Rockets Launched Into Crowd To Give Them "Good Luck"

Everybody wishes each other well when the New Year hits.

People intentionally subject themselves to
a barrage of bottle rockets for "luck"
I wish them luck, too.  

In a Taiwanese city, they have an interesting way of showing it. During the Chinese New Year, they fire tons of bottle rockets into a willing crowd, because that is suppose to give them good luck through the rest of the year.

It's called the Beehive Festival in part because the fireworks, like angry bees, emerge from a big contraption that looks like a beehive.

I do notice most of the people in the crowd wear helmets, which is good. But I wonder if a high speed bottle rocket, fully lit blasting into your face is the luckiest way to start a new year.

But what do I know. Watch, and then you can decide: