Pilot, plane manufacturer, fined after road landing

A pilot who landed a small aircraft on a road and the manufacturer of the plane have both been punished by the relevant authority, China News Service reported on Tuesday.

The pilot, surnamed Chen, landed the aircraft on April 8 on a road in Beichuan county, Sichuan province, to refuel at a fuel station next to the road. He then took off again from the road.

The southwest regional administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China investigated the unusual landing and found the pilot had no civil aviation pilot license and the plane manufacturer in the county held no aircraft production license and the plane did not have a certificate of airworthiness.

The pilot and the manufacturer both broke the civil aviation law.

The administration ordered the manufacturer to stop production of the aircraft and fined it 500,000 yuan ($80,320), and fined the pilot 100,000 yuan.