Taiwan pilots 'faced problem with one engine, restarted the other'

Emergency personnel retrieve the body of a passenger from the wreckage of a TransAsia Airways turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft after it crashed in a river, in New Taipei City, February 4, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The crew of a twin-propeller TransAsia plane faced a problem with one engine but restarted the other, investigators said on Friday, as it emerged the plane suffered a lack of thrust before crashing into a river in Taipei, killing 35 people.

The reason for the pilots' action was unclear but a combined lack of thrust caused the almost-new turboprop ATR 72-600 to stall soon after take-off, Aviation Safety Council officials told a news briefing after a preliminary examination of the black box flight-data and voice recorders.