China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210

Accident summary
Date 21 November 2004 (2004-11-21)
Summary Atmospheric icing leading to loss of control
Site Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China
Passengers 47
Crew 6
Fatalities 55 (all, plus 2 on ground)
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Bombardier CRJ-200ER
Operator China Eastern Airlines
Registration B-3072
Flight origin Baotou Erliban Airport, Baotou, China
Stopover Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China
Destination Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai, China

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 (CES5210/MU5210) was a flight from Baotou Erliban Airport, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai, China with planned stopover in Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China. On 21 November 2004, just two minutes after take off, the Bombardier CRJ-200ER plunged and crashed into a lake, killing all 53 passengers on board and two more people on the ground.

The crash was the deadliest crash in China since the 2002's China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 crash in Dalian, which killed 112 people. Investigation by the CAAC (short for Civil Aviation Administration of China) revealed that the plane had not been de-iced by the ground crew while it was parked at the airport. Ice accumulation on the wings caused the plane to lost its lift, which caused it to crash.

Aircraft

Accident

Flight 5120 took off at 08:21 local time. Flight 5210 departed 15 minutes ahead of its schedule, carrying 47 passengers and 6 crew members. 10 seconds after it took off from Baotou Airport, the plane shook for several seconds and plunged onto the ground. The plane then crashed into a lake and exploded into a fire ball. The plane skidded through the park and crashed onto a house, a park ticketing station and a port, setting fire to several parked yachts. It then plunged onto an icy lake. All 53 people on board and 2 people on the ground were killed in the crash.

Search and rescue

President of China Hu Jintao, who was visiting foreign country at the time of the disaster, ordered an immediate rescue operation.[1] More than 100 firefighters were dispatched onto the crash site. 250 police officers, 50 park staff and 20 divers were also dispatched onto the crash site. Rescuers had to break the layer of ice to retrieve the bodies. On November 21, rescuers had recovered 36 bodies from the frozen lake. According to a doctor who worked on nearby hospital, rescuers had only recovered organs and intestines of the victims, with one rescuer had only recovered a heart and a lung.[2]

The rescue efforts were hampered by the low temperature. As of 22 November, most parts of the plane had been recovered from the lake. A team of rescue experts from Ministry of Communications Maritime Bureau have arrived on the crash site on 22 November.[3]. On November 24, investigators began to locate the position of the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. At around 9 p.m, they detected the signals from the recorders. One strong "ping" was detected. Two weak pings were later heard by rescue worker.[4]

Passengers and crews

On 23 November, the passenger manifest was released by the airliner's official. 50 of the total 47 passengers on board were Chinese. Officials confirmed that there was only one foreigner on board from Indonesia and that the Indonesian was among the first body to be retrieved from the lake.[5] Among the passengers was the president of one of China’s biggest software companies, Chen Suyang, president of Fudan Forward S&T Co., Ltd.[6]

The flight crew members were identified as Captain Wang Pin (王品), Vice Captain Yang Guang (杨光); First Officer Yi Qinwei (易沁炜); Flight Attendants Huang Chongyan (黄崇燕) and Shi Meimian (史美棉); and a Security Officer, Jiang Chaohong (姜朝宏).

Investigation

Most witnesses stated that the plane shook for several seconds then it exploded while the plane was still in mid-air. According to one witness, a blast occurred on the tail of the plane. Smokes began to pour from the plane and it then eventually crashed into the park, becoming a fire-ball, skidded across the park and then plunged onto the lake. Others claimed that the plane exploded into "flaming fragments" in the air before crashed onto the park. [6]

The crash occurred just three months after the bombing of a Tupolev Tu-154 and a Tupolev Tu-134 over Russia, which killed 90 people. At the time, investigators of the Russian bombings immediately found traces of explosives aboard the two planes. Investigators on the crash of Flight 5120, however, stated that they didn't find any evidence of terrorism. State-run news agency Xinhua stated that investigators found no sign of other “man-made destruction.”[6]

Weather at the time of crash was reported to be normal, although the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius. A rumor claiming that ice particles in the fuel caused the disaster was later disproven.

On November 24, salvage workers recovered the plane's cockpit voice recorder and its flight data recorder from the lake.[7]

The investigation revealed that the accident aircraft (B-3072) had been parked overnight at Baotou Airport in cold weather conditions, causing a layer of frost to form on the exterior.

The aircraft was not de-iced prior to the flight. During takeoff, the frost contamination severely degraded aerodynamic performance, and as the jet rotated, it entered a stall from which the flight crew was unable to recover. The aircraft crashed into a frozen lake in Nanhai Park, about two kilometers from the runway, and also struck a park ticket office, killing two park employees, in addition to the 53 persons on board.[8]

Aftermath

Due to the crash, the park was cordoned by authorities.

In 2006, twelve China Eastern Airlines employees were found to be responsible for the accident, and received administrative punishment.[8]

China Eastern no longer operates this route and stopped in Beijing again. All flights between Baotou and Shanghai are now operated by its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines as Flights 9438 and 9136 (to Hongqiao direct flight).

Notes

  1. ↑ "胡锦涛温家宝黄菊就东航坠机事件作出重要指示" (in Chinese). People's Daily. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "苍天无情 人间有爱—写在“11·21”空难发生后" (in Chinese). People's Daily. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "民航总局：包头空难调查结果要经得起历史鉴定" (in Chinese). People's Daily. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "千呼万唤始出来 包头空难“黑匣子”打捞侧记" (in Chinese). People's Daily. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "China plane crash kills 54". CNN. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "China: No evidence terrorism downed plane". NBC. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "飞机“黑匣子”是橙红色的 重约20—30公斤" (in Chinese). People's Daily. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  8. 1 2 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

Coordinates: 40°39′03″N 109°50′31″E / 40.65083°N 109.84194°E / 40.65083; 109.84194

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