Society

China Southern Airlines plane catches fire, again

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-13 15:53

GUANGZHOU - A China Southern Airlines plane caught fire while loading in South China's Guangdong province early Monday. No casualties were reported.

It is the company's second incident to cause alarm in less than 24 hours.

The plane's cargo hold caught fire at 8 am after passengers had boarded and the luggage was being loaded at Gungzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, officials of China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd and Gungzhou Baiyun International Airport said.

No one was hurt, an official said, who declined to be named.

Fight CZ3533 was scheduled to head for Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province, but as of 1:30 pm it had still not departed.

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Officials from both the company and the airport have refused to specify the type of the plane and number of passengers on it.

Police are carrying out an investigation at the scene with the employees of the airlines and the airport.

Initial findings showed that the fire was caused by combustibles in the cargo hold, police said.

In another incident, a commercial jet carrying more than 100 passengers, also from China Southern Airlines, caused a scare when thick smoke was seen spewing from a set of tires after landing at 12 am Sunday at Xianyang International Airport in Xi'an city, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province. No one was hurt, the airport authority and carrier said Monday.

On August 24, a Brazilian-made ERJ-190 jet operated by Henan Airlines crashed upon landing at Lindu Airport in Yichun City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, killing 42 and injuring 54 people on board. The accident is the deadliest commercial plane crash in China since 2004.