( CNN ) As they took their seats on a TransAsia Airways flight that crashed in Taipei on Wednesday , Lin Ming-wei and his young family were looking forward to a vacation on Kinmen , an island in the Taiwan Strait . Minutes later , Lin was fighting his way out of the plane 's wreckage and searching frantically for his toddler in the shallow , murky waters of the Keelung River . He searched for three minutes before spotting his son 's feet in the water . `` When he pulled him out , he had no heartbeat , '' Lin Ming-wei 's brother , using his English name Chris Lin , told CNN . `` His lips were blue . There was no sign of life in him . '' Lin Ming-wei did n't give up , performing CPR on his son . `` He is my only child . I absolutely have to save his life -- I ca n't lose him , '' the Liberty Times newspaper quoted him as saying . The 2½-year-old boy made it and was in a hospital Thursday , about to be discharged from the intensive care unit as he battles pneumonia , his uncle said . Chris Lin said that his brother , Lin Ming-wei , suffered some scratches , while his sister-in-law fractured some bones and is recovering well after surgery on her left hand . `` My brother was really grateful for the rescue teams ( and ) the pilot , '' said Chris Lin . `` Because of ( the pilot 's ) heroic act , he was able to save a lot of people -- and allow our family to survive . '' Chris Lin refuted earlier claims by local media that the Lin family switched seats before takeoff after a noise made his brother uneasy and it was this hunch that saved the family from death . He told CNN on Monday that his brother and family switched seats at the check-in desk and not when they were on the plane . Chris Lin said his brother told him the plane suddenly dropped after its left engine lost power . After it hit the water , Lin Ming-wei -- who was strapped to his seat and upside down -- unbuckled himself before helping free his wife , the brother said . A fire department rescue worker who was one of the first on the scene said the cabin was already chest-deep in water when he entered . `` Many passengers were tangled up in their seat belts and hung upside down , '' the Taipei Times quoted him as saying . Huang Chin-shun , 72 , said he helped save four lives by unclipping safety belts . `` Shortly after taking off , I felt something was not right , '' he told CNN affiliate ETTV . `` I thought : 'something 's wrong with the engine , ' because I always take this flight . '' Thirteen people were saved in the initial rescue effort but progress slowed and water had completely filled the fuselage by evening , when a crane lifted it from the water . The Lins were not the only ones to have a lucky escape . As the out-of-control plane spiraled into the river on the outskirts of the island 's capital , it clipped a taxi traveling along an elevated highway . The driver , 52-year-old Chou Hsi-tung , and his female passenger sustained only minor injuries from shattered fragments of windshield glass . Photographs showed a yellow Volkswagen with a flattened windshield and engine hood . After the plane hit , the taxi driver made a shocking report to dispatchers . `` I just brought a passenger up unto Huandong , and as I was getting on ( the expressway ) , a plane flew by and hit me , '' he said , according to an audio recording of the call released by taxi company Crown Taxi . `` A remote-controlled model plane ? '' the dispatcher asked . `` My car is completely wrecked , '' Chou replied , going on to explain that it was n't a remote-controlled plane , but a manned plane . `` Huh ? '' the puzzled dispatcher responded . `` Are there any casualties ? '' The driver described the dire situation : `` The whole thing fell into the Keelung River . My passenger ca n't get out of the vehicle . My car 's wrecked . '' According to the Taipei Times , Chou 's family did n't believe him at first when he telephoned home to say : `` I 'm OK. My car got into a crash . It was hit by an airplane . '' CNN 's Vivian Kam and Mitra Mobasherat in Hong Kong , Shen Lu in Beijing and Greg Botelho and Catherine E. Shoichet in Atlanta contributed to this report .
Taxi driver to dispatch : `` A plane flew by and hit me '' Lin Ming-wei 's son was blue with no heartbeat when his father spotted his feet in the water . Lin 's family is one of a handful of survivors of this week 's airplane crash in Taiwan .