Lin Mingwei’s two-year-old son Lin Riyao had already spent more than 100 days in hospital after nearly losing his life due to being born premature.

“I absolutely can’t lose him again,” Mr Lin told Apple Daily, Taiwan.

He spent three minutes trying to find his son, whom he located in the murky waters of the Keelung River in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Scene of devastation … The front section of the wreckage of the TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane is lifted onto the Keelung river bank in New Taipei City. Picture: AFP Source: AFP 

He was taken immediately to hospital where his condition is understood to serious but stable.

Mr Lin’s wife has also suffered a number of broken bones and is being treated in hospital.

Mr Lin said the family had switched seats on the plane “out of a hunch” that saved their lives, the United Daily News said.

“The family originally sat in the heavily damaged left side but Lin Mingwei felt uneasy after he heard noises before taking-off and requested to switch seats,” the report quoted Dai Bi-chin, a friend of the family, as saying after visiting them in hospital.

Their new seats put them next to a crack in the plane after it crashed, and the newspaper said Lin was able to pull his wife to safety and then revive his son after spotting him in the water, blue and unresponsive.

Rescuers in rubber rafts pulled 15 people alive from the wreckage of TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 which took off at 11.53am local time from Songshan Airport with 58 passengers en route to the nearby Taiwanese-controlled Kinmen Islands.

The ATR 72-600 aircraft hit a road bridge in New Taipei City and plunged into the river within three minutes of takeoff.

A distressed child is rescued … a man cradles a young boy who was on the crashed TransAsia Airways plane. Picture: Apple Daily / Taiwan Source: News Corp Australia 

Experts lauded pilots Liao and Liu suggesting their actions might have prevented further lives being lost..

“This pilot decided to land in a narrow river without buildings because there is a residential area nearby. He did all he could do,” Liao Linghui, a Taiwanese aviation expert told SET News, adding that he felt the plane’s captain was a hero.

The pilot was applauded by aviation experts for apparently steering the plane away from populated areas and high-rise buildings to avoid causing more damage with the aircraft which had 53 passengers and five crew on board.

“Based on the flight path, the pilot deviated and tried to avoid obstacles. The pilot apparently made a conscious effort to avoid further and unnecessary casualties by ditching in the river. It was a very courageous move,” Hong Kong-based aviation analyst Daniel Tsang told AFP.

Emotional citizens posted their praise and condolences on social media sites. “I believe the pilot managed to steer the plane away from high-rise buildings, he is a hero,” Gin Oy, a writer and actress, said on her Facebook page.

Captain Liao is a former military pilot and the father of a nine-year-old boy.

“If the aircraft is coming down the pilots aim for open spaces where they and the passengers might survive,” said David Learmount, from Flightglobal magazine. He added that it may have been a stroke of luck to land in the river.

“They pulled the nose up to try to haul it over the top of the buildings, but when the aircraft has almost stalled, that would stall the wings completely and instead of going up, you go down more steeply.”

PILOT MAYDAY