TAIPEI, TAIWAN (THE CHINA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Chi Po-lin, the photographer who directed the 2013 award-winning documentary 'Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above', was on the passenger manifest of an aircraft that crashed in Hualien County, firefighters said Saturday.

Three people onboard the aircraft No. B31118 belonging to Emerald Pacific Airlines were killed after it crashed near Fengbin Harbour shortly after taking off at 10 a.m. to conduct an aerial photography mission.

Aviation authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

According to local media reports, Chi was filming the sequel of "Beyond Beauty" when the accident took place.