2010-08-26 16:52

BEIJING/YICHUN - China on Wednesday started the official probe into the Yichun plane crash which killed 42 people and injured 54 others while domestic airlines were ordered to overhaul safety measures.

The wreckage of a crashed passenger plane is seen in Yichun, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province early Aug 25, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

The State Council, or China's Cabinet, has set up a special work group to probe the cause of the crash. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered a thorough investigation and beefed-up efforts to ensure air travel safety.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who led an investigation team to the lush forested city of Yichun overnight after the crash, headed the work group.

Zhang called upon the work-group's first meeting Wednesday but details of the meeting were not made public.

Li Jian, vice director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), told Xinhua that the work group has started to gather evidence for the probe, but the process would take some time.

A Brazil-made ERJ-190 turbine jet of Henan Airlines crashed during the landing at the forests-surrounded Lindu Airport of Yichun City late Tuesday night, killing 42 and injuring 54 passengers and the crew on board.

Fifteen severely injured, including children and a vice minister, were transferred to four key hospitals in Harbin, the provincial capital on Wednesday night.

Initial probes and survivors' accounts indicate the plane missed the runway and crashed on the ground, cracking the cabin and triggering a mild explosion.

No signs of sabotage have been found so far, investigators said.

The black boxes of the jet have been retrieved.

The Lindu airport of Yichun was closed down shortly while operations of the Henan Airlines were suspended.

The board of directors of Henan Airlines on Wednesday sacked the airline's general manager Li Qiang and appointed an acting manager to replace him.

Cao Bo, Li's replacement, served as the chief pilot of Shenzhen Airlines, the parent company of Henan Airliens.

Major Chinese carriers, including the China Eastern and China Southern, on Wednesday called upon emergency meetings to review the companies' safety measures.

Airport safety standards defended

Chinese local media on Wednesday started to question Lindu Airport's construction standards and its ability to accommodate flight landing during the night.

The airport, which started operation in August last year, covers 129 hectares of land in a thickly forested valley.

Its name -- Lindu -- literally means the "capital of woods".

Li Jian, the vice director of the CAAC, said the airport meets all safety requirement upon construction.

"It is no comparison to big airports but the safety standards are guaranteed."

He said the airport is built with the capacity to accommodate flights during the night.

As of Wednesday night, the Lindu airport remains closed.

Flights suspended

Henan Airlines canceled all its flights Wednesday for safety reviews.

An official with Henan provincial aviation regulatory committee said the time to resume operations has not yet been settled.

The cancellation triggered complaints from air travelers in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan.

"Our flight was expected to take off at 8:20 am. We were told the flight was canceled much later than that. And the airline gave no explanation," said Yang Ning, a college student, as she was anxiously waiting for air travel clearance.

Staff from Henan Airlines said all passengers whose flights were canceled could contact the airline's ticket office for flight rearrangement.

Previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, the carrier was relaunched as Henan Airlines earlier this year.

It flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China. The Harbin-Yichun route was launched only two weeks ago.

Embraer assistance

The crashed plane is an ERJ-190 jet manufactured by Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer with a maximum passenger capacity of 108.

In its Rio de Janeiro headquarters, Embraer said Wednesday it is sending a team of specialists to Yichun to help investigate the crash.

In a terse statement, the company said it "extends its profound condolences and wishes for recovery to the families and friends of those lost or injured in the accident".

About 30 ERJ-190 jets are in service in China. Five are operated by Henan Airlines and 25 are operated by Tianjin Airlines.

In the past, technical problems propped up among Chinese carriers using the ERJ-190 jets.

Last June, a work-shop was called upon by the CAAC to discuss with domestic carriers problems concerning the imported ERJ-190 jets.

Cracks of the turbine plates and erroneous information displayed in the flight control system were among the most prominent problems, the workshop notes show.

China is one of the world's largest aircraft consumer markets. An industry report conducted by Aviation Industry Corporation of China in 2008 shows that China needs to add 3,815 aircraft, including 2,822 large jets, to its civil aviation fleet before 2027.

Tuesday's crash ended China's remarkable air travel safety record of about 2,100 days -- or 69 months -- without accidents.

In November 2004, a CRJ-200 jet, owned by China Eastern Airlines, crashed shortly after take-off into a park in Baotou city, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, killing all 53 people on board and two others on the ground.