Taiwan's TransAsia Airlines says it has begun distributing 1.2 million Taiwan dollars ($37,903; 33,498 euros) to help pay the funeral costs of passengers who died in a crash in the capital, Taipei, on Wednesday.

Airline representatives met on Sunday with relatives of the victims to discuss further compensation, and a TransAsia spokeswoman said another such meeting would be held on Wednesday.

This comes as Premier Mao Chi-kuo told private Formosa TV that priority was being given to the search for the last three missing passengers. He also said Taiwan needed to improve its "civil aviation in terms of its management and training."

Investigation underway

Rescuers have so far recovered 40 bodies from the Keelung River into which the turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft plunged after clipping a highway overpass shortly after take-off. Fifteen people survived the crash with injuries.

Most of the 53 passengers on board were from the Chinese mainland. The plane was also carrying five crew members.

Preliminary investigations have indicated that the pilots shut off a running engine when the other went idle just seconds after take-off - a move aviation experts say was an error.

Taiwan's aviation authorities ordered TransAsia pilots who fly ATR planes to undergo proficiency tests after the crash.

TransAsia said on Sunday it would cancel 52 flights early next week, in addition to the 90 already canceled.

tj/sms (AP, Reuters)