00:00A Chinese airline rewarded one of its pilots with 3,000,000 yuan today for preventing
00:07a collision between two planes that could have killed 439 people.
00:11The pilot's Airbus A320 was about to take off from an airport in Shanghai last month
00:17when it encountered an Airbus A330 in its path along the runway, reports the People's
00:22Daily Online.
00:23The pilot, named Hikao, chose to accelerate and fly over the other aircraft avoiding
00:28a head-on crash by just 19 metres .
00:32The terrifying incident took place on runway 36 litres at Shanghai Hakuyao International
00:37Airport at 12.04 pm on October 11.
00:40The flight Mu-5643, an Airbus A320-200, was about to take off when the flight Mu-5106, an Airbus
00:49A330-300, had just landed and was taxiing nearby.
00:54The Civil Aviation Administration of China released a simulation of the incident during
00:59their investigation last month.
01:02The video shows the A320 was speeding up on the runway when Mr. He spotted the A330 entering
01:08its runway just feet away.
01:09At the time, the Airbus A320 was already travelling at approximately 240 kmh , according to a statement
01:20on China Eastern Airlines' website.
01:22Mr. He decided to accelerate it and made a sharp climb.
01:26His aircraft narrowly missed the other plane.
01:28The near-miss incident has shocked the Chinese media.
01:32Many have compared it to the Tenerife Airport disaster, a fatal runway crash between two
01:37Buaeg 747s that killed 583 people in 1977.
01:45China Eastern Airlines rewarded the quick-thinking pilot He Kao with the cash bonus during a ceremony
01:50earlier today.
01:50The cabin crew were also given 600,000 yuan .
01:57According to an earlier article from People's Daily, there were 413 passengers and 26 crew
02:02in total on the two flights.
02:04Both aircraft involved in the near-collision belonged to China Eastern Airlines.
02:09The Airbus A330 had flown from Beijing to Shanghai, carrying 266 passengers, while the Airbus
02:16A320 was taking off from Shanghai for Tianjin, carrying 147 passengers.
02:23An investigation launched by China's Aviation Authority found that air traffic control were
02:28at fault for the incident.
02:30Kao suggested that the control center and the crew members of the A330 failed to maintain
02:35proper communication with the controller.
02:38The authority has revoked the licenses of two air traffic controllers responsible for the incident
02:42and punished 13 air traffic control officials from the Eastern China Air Control Bureau.
Commenti