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December 20, 2014

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Pilot jailed over crash that killed 44 people

A court in northeast China yesterday jailed for three years the captain of a passenger jet that crashed four years ago with the loss of 44 lives.

Captain Qi Quanjun, 44, was found guilty of not observing safety rules while trying to land the Henan Airlines flight in dense fog and turbulence at Yichun City, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. His co-pilot died in the crash.

Qi was also guilty of failing to evacuate the plane properly and leaving the wreckage without authorization while passengers were still trapped, said a district court in Yichun.

This is the first time that the pilot of an aircraft involved in a major accident has been jailed in China.

The crash of a Brazilian Embraer E-190 regional jet also left 52 people injured and was the worst air disaster in China since 2004.

Flight VD8387 from the provincial capital of Harbin to Yichun crashed while attempting to land at Yichun on August 24, 2010.

It overshot the runway and burst into flames, with fire gutting most of the aircraft.

Qi, who was on his first flight to Yichun, violated operational rules by attempting to land when visibility was below safety standards, causing the accident, said the Yichun court.

A report by the State Administration of Work Safety in 2012 said Qi approached the runway when visibility was 2,800 meters, while the standard minimum is 3,600 meters.

It also said Qi ignored warnings from air traffic control.

The report added that the aircraft illegally passed the minimum descent altitude for landing in fog even though the runway was nowhere in sight, violating aviation rules.

After the crash, Henan Airlines changed its name back to its previous name Kunpeng Airlines. Kunpeng Airlines is now controlled by Shenzhen Airlines.

The crash was the worst in China since a China Eastern Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200LR crashed after takeoff from Baotou, Inner Mongolia, on November 21, 2004.

The jet, which had not been de-iced, plunged into a park lake killing all 53 people on board and two park employees.




 

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