Horrifying moment plane sliced car in half in crash caught on dash cam footage

WARNING: CONTAINS DISTRESSING FOOTAGE

This harrowing footage shows the moment a plane carrying 58 people plummeted from the sky - and sliced a taxi car in half.

TransAsia Airways Flight 235 was flying from Songshan Airport in Taiwan to Kinmen Airport in China when the horrific accident occurred.

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Just minutes after taking off on February 4 2015, one of the plane's turboprop engines suffered a mechanical failure.

Rather than shut down the malfunctioning engine and return to the airport, as is normal procedure, the pilots made a mistake that would cost them dearly.

Due to a miscommunication between captain Liao Chien-tsung and his co-pilot Liu Tze-chung, the second engine was shut down - leaving the plane falling towards the Keelung River.

The last thing passengers heard from their pilots was: "Mayday, mayday, engine flameout."

During the plane's descent, it passed over a bridge and cut a taxi cab in half with it's wing.

Incredibly, the two people inside the cab survived, with only minor injuries.

The people onboard Flight 235 weren't so fortunate.

Moments after the near-miss with the taxi, the plane landed upside down in the river, killing 43 of the passengers. Only 15 survived.

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All of the flight crew and one of the two flight attendants were killed in the crash.

Although the Taipei Fire Department and volunteer workers arrived on the scene within minutes, it would be another half hour before rescue boats reached the survivors inside the plane.

Once the survivors were retrieved, divers were dispatched to retrieve the dead from the plane - most of whom were sat towards the front.

One couple aboard the flight may have only narrowly survived the collision, thanks to a last minute change of plans.

Lin Mingwei and his wife had moved from the left side of the plane to the right shortly before take off, after hearing a 'strange noise' coming from the wing.

This worked to their favour, as it would be on the left side that an opening would be created upon landing in the water - giving Mingwei and his wife an escape route before the plane filled with water.

Another lucky survivor, taxi driver Mr Zhou, told reporters that he had only suffered 'head injuries' after his close call with death, remarking: "I am lucky to be alive."

The crash of Flight 235 ultimately led to the demise of TransAsia Airways, as it was the second major incident involving in the airline in seven months.

The airline ceased operations and closed indefinitely at the end of 2015.