Passengers escape from burning plane
36 hurt as Tibet Airlines flight veers off runway amid take-off in Chongqing
Fire sent black smoke billowing storeys high after a plane carrying 122 people veered off a runway in the nation’s southwest as it tried to take off yesterday morning, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The crew of the Tibet Airlines plane aborted the departure for the Tibetan city of Nyingchi when the aircraft ran off the runway at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at about 8am.
Video footage posted by CCTV showed people running from the plane as it sat on the tarmac with an evacuation slide down at the rear door and its nose landing gear collapsed. Chongqing airport said on Weibo that the fire began on the left side of the plane, towards its nose.
The southwestern regional branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the fire had been extinguished but the runway remained closed. Two other runways at Chongqing airport were operating normally, it added.
All of the 113 passengers and nine crew members were evacuated from Tibet Airlines
Flight TV9833, the agency said. A total of 36 people who suffered bruising and sprains during the evacuation were taken to hospital.
The agency said a team had been sent to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire, which began after the plane’s engine rubbed against the ground as it veered off the runway. The Airbus A319-100 had been in service with the airline for nine and a half years.
The accident – which occurred less than two months after China’s deadliest aviation disaster since 1994 – was Weibo’s top trending topic yesterday morning.
China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 plunged from a cruising altitude in the country’s south on March 21, killing all 132 people on board, according to a preliminary investigation report released by the CAAC.
Beijing launched a campaign that month to tighten safety practices across a number of industries, including aviation, mining and chemical production, following the crash.
It warned businesses to take responsibility for eliminating safety hazards and hold those at fault accountable. It also said information on major accidents should be published in a timely manner.
China Eastern drew criticism after the chairman of its Yunnan subsidiary did not respond directly to questions at a press conference on the crash.
The Airbus A319 is one of three aircraft models operated by Tibet Airlines, a regional carrier founded in 2010 that counts national airline Air China as a major shareholder.
According to aviation website Planespotters.net, Tibet Airlines operated 28 A319 planes before yesterday’s incident. The airline’s own website said its A319s had been fitted with engines and instruments designed for high altitude flights, like the other aircraft in its fleet.
The plane that veered off the runway is one of the oldest to be delivered to Tibet Airlines, which received it in 2012, according to Planespotters.net.
But it is newer than most A319-100s in service. German airline Lufthansa, for example, still operates the aircraft more than 25 years after delivery.
Airbus, the plane’s manufacturer, said in a statement that it was assisting Tibet Airlines and France’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau. It also said the French agency was in direct contact with the CAAC.