‘I closed my eyes and hoped I would be OK’: passengers on planes that turned back before Penghu crash relive terror

Passengers on flights that abandoned landing at Taiwan's Magong Airport around the time TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 crashed near the runway say they had never encountered such bad weather while flying.

At least four flights turned back on Wednesday after waiting to land within hours of the crash, according to data provided by aviation authorities.

Tsai Chen-hsien, 38, left Taipei aboard another TransAsia Airways flight at 5.25pm bound for Magong Airport - 90 minutes before the crash. He said he felt lucky his plane returned to the capital after more than an hour of circling the airport in Penghu.

"The weather was changing very quickly. It was not too bad when I got on board, but the captain told us that because of the weather, we had to go around and wait for a good opportunity to land," said the Penghu native who works in Taipei. "He also said there were a couple of flights waiting in line to land.

"While we were waiting up there, we could feel these weren't bouts of ordinary turbulence. The plane was bobbing up and down so strongly and suddenly. Women and children were screaming," Tsai said. "I was prepared for disaster."

Hsieh Li-chen, 40, was on the same flight. The restaurant waitress, also a Penghu native, said the flight was "frightening".