China Northern Airlines Crash

[Capt PPRuNe]

BBC has just reported that a China Northern Airlines plane has crashed in northern China.

[GrahamK]

I hear its an MD-82 thats went down but cannot confirm it at the moment. :( Crashed into the sea near Dalian
If u can read chinese:
http://www.carnoc.com/cgi-bin/news/news.cgi?job=shownews&listxwno=2002,05,08002014

[btmtdi]

Chinese airliner crashes
Press Association

A Chinese airliner with 112 passengers and crew on board has crashed in north eastern China.
Reports say it has plunged into the sea.
The state Xinhua News Agency says rescue efforts are under way.
There is no information about any survivors.
The China Northern Airlines jet crashed near Dalian, a port city east of Beijing. The agency said the plane went missing over the sea.

[ajamieson]

233 87 bej intjw
URGENT
Official news agency: Chinese domestic airliner crashes with 112 reported aboard
Eds: COMBINES pvs. ADDS details of rescue efforts beginning, agency saying plane crashed into sea, darkness hindering rescue efforts. ADDS byline.
By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) – A Chinese airliner with 112 people aboard crashed Tuesday night into the water off northeastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said rescue efforts were under way but gave no immediate information about fatalities or survivors.
More than 30 rescue ships were reported on the water headed toward the crash site.
The China Northern Airlines jet crashed in the bay just off Dalian, a port city on the northeastern coast, 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Beijing, Xinhua said. The agency said the plane went into Dalian Bay at about 9:40 p.m. (1340 GMT) after the captain reported a fire in the cabin.
The plane, identified as China Northern Flight 6136, was an MD-82 airliner and was carrying 103 passengers and nine crew from Beijing, the Chinese capital, to Dalian, Xinhua said.
It took off at 8:37 p.m. (1237 GMT), and air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight less than an hour later, at 9.32 p.m. (1332 GMT), Xinhua said.
It said the plane went missing in the sea some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Dalian’s airport.
The plane was carrying 103 passengers and nine crew, Xinhua said.
Darkness at sea was hindering rescue efforts, Xinhua said. It said most of those aboard were residents of Dalian.
China Northern’s office in Dalian rang busy and could not be reached for comment early Wednesday. 071718 may 02GMT

[JR_wilco]

read @Xinhua:
Pilot radioed that the cabin was on fire !!
for further news: http://www.jacdec.de

[Bubbette]

It seems that way from the reports of the debris condition.

[Alpha Leader]

From today's South China Morning Post :

Quote

Beijing has vowed to punish anyone found responsible for the crash of a China Northern Airlines plane that killed all 112 people on baord, a senior official in charge of the investigation said yesterday.

"Once the cause of the May 7 air crash is found, those responsible for the disaster will definitely be punished according to law," Shan Chungchang, spokesman for the rescue team, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

The MD-82 plunged into Dalian Bay last week shortly after the pilot reported a fire on board.

Mr. Shan's pledge came a day after Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo asked government agencies to step up checks to avoid industrial accidents and take responsibility for transport safety, Xinhua reported.

Despite a drop in fatal accidents over the past 15 months, things had worsened since last month, Mr. Wu said.

.........
Unquote

I wonder how they would treat any foreign crews involved in a crash?

[Few Cloudy]

Well, unless the crew deliberately/negligently started the fire which was the reported cause, they can't be held culpable. I am sure, on the contrary they did all possible to retrieve the situation.

Fire on board is the most uncalculable emergency you can have. The situation can change rapidly, the smoke can thicken in consistancy and systems fail variously.

A MD-80 smoke in cockpit case in a previous airline showed:

The initial light smoke within a minute became thick, choking and irritating to the eyes.

The checklist was not readable,

The only captions which could be read were the lighted ones,

There was a thick deposit left on the windshield and instruments - only realised after flight,

The immediate actions for smoke removal were attempted from memory but because of zero vis, various manipulations (in particular the complete opening of the cabin altitude valve) had only been partially completed. The remaining diff pressure prevented window opening for smoke clearance.

Indeed, the only use to which the checklist could be put, was fanning away the smoke from the flying pilot, to give him some visibility for a well handled emergency landing in München. Time was of the essence, as a minute or so later a full fire would probably have developed.

This particular case was caused by a failure in the emergency power switch in the overhead panel but every case is different in its effects and cause. A horrible situation in any case. And by the way, this same airline later had a fatal crash in very similar circumstances.

[flyaustralia]

You may find what was going on about China Northern Airlines' air crash nearby Dalian, China at CARNOC Special News Collection (http://www.carnoc.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000021).

Also, there are some photos collected by China's CARNOC [Civil Aviation Resource Net of China] editors, more info at CARNOC Special Photo Collection (http://www.carnoc.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000022).