Paul Lewis/Singapore
Chinese air safety is coming under renewed scrutiny after a China Northern Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was badly damaged during an aborted take-off from Dalian Airport in the north of China.
The aircraft suffered about $10.5 million worth of damage after overrunning the end of the runway by 130m (425ft) on 20 July, says London-based insurance loss-adjuster, the Lloyds Aviation Department. The China Northern pilot elected to abort the take-off after the MD-82 (B-2136) suffered an apparent auto-throttle failure.
It subsequently veered to the side during braking and ran off the left-hand end of the airport's single 3,300m-long runway. The ten crew and all 126 passengers on board evacuated the aircraft safely, Lloyds Aviation confirms. The twinjet's main landing gear collapsed and the nose wheel was pushed up into the avionics bay. In addition to airframe damage, the engines are believed to have suffered ingestion damage.
Chinese authorities have remained tight lipped about the incident, which has gone largely unreported. The overrun follows the crash of a China Southern Airline Boeing 737-300 on 8 May at Shenzhen Airport, which killed 35 passengers. Local investigators have continued to refuse Boeing officials access to the wreckage.
Source: Flight International
