The Civil Aviation Administration of China has revoked the license of the South Korean pilot of Juneyao Airlines flight HO1112, handing him a lifetime flying ban within China. His co-pilot will be suspended for six months. The Korean pilot disobeyed orders from air traffic controllers to yield the runway at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport on August 13th for Qatar Airways flight QR888. The Qatari crew sent a Mayday signal requesting to land first, telling Hongqiao traffic controllers that their plane had 'five minutes of fuel left'. The Juneyao pilots refused six orders to yield in a span of seven minutes. The pilot has jeopardized Juneyao Airlines' expansion plans, with recent requests from the airline to set up branch offices and rent or purchase new aircraft being denied by the CAAC. Investigators determined that the Juneyao Airbus A320 had enough fuel for another hour's worth of flight, while the Qatari Boeing 777-300 had enough fuel for another 48 minutes in the air.
The Korean pilot is banned from flying an airplane as a crewmember in China for life. The license of the co-pilot will be suspended for six months, according to the penalty handed down by the East China Regional Administration under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Xinhua news agency reported today.
The CAAC said the crew of Juneyao flight HO1112 seriously violated regulations and ethics codes. Juneyao Airlines' request to expand its business, set up branch offices and rent or purchase aircraft temporarily will be denied by the administration. It will cut its capacity by 10 percent for three months.
The pilot of Qatari flight QR888 sent a Mayday signal and asked to land first as its fuel would soon be used up on August 13. Air traffic control asked Juneyao plane to give way six times in 7 minutes, but the pilot refused, saying he had little fuel left too. The air traffic control had to rearrange landing orders to secure a safe landing of the Qatari plane.
Investigation found Juneyao's smaller Airbus A320 plane had 2.9 tons of fuel left, meaning it could have stayed in the air for another hour. The Qatari Boeing 777-300 jet had 5.2 tons of fuel, enough for 48 minutes of flight, the CAAC said.
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com
Air disaster narrowly averted in China: report
Shanghai, August 25, 2011
A Chinese pilot's refusal to give up his landing slot to a passenger plane that issued a distress call to say it was running out of fuel almost caused a disaster, state media reported on Thursday. China's privately-owned Juneyao Airlines confirmed that one of its pilots refused to give way when a Qatar Airways plane contacted air traffic controllers at Hongqiao airport, asking permission to land immediately.
The pilot of the Qatar plane said it had just five minutes' worth of fuel left after it was diverted from Shanghai, the Global Times newspaper reported, adding that a disastrous accident was only narrowly averted.
The Qatar plane was travelling from Doha to Shanghai when it was ordered to divert due to a thunderstorm on August 13.
Air traffic controllers in Hongqiao, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from Shanghai, ordered the Juneyao pilot to circle the airport and allow the Qatar plane to land first, but the pilot refused.
The Global Times said the Juneyao pilot claimed he had been waiting "a long time" and needed to land "right now", citing comments posted online.
Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines, which was founded in 2005, said the pilot and crew had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, but that the "rumours on the Internet are far from the truth".
"It remains doubtful whether the fuel on the Qatar Airways plane was really fewer than five minutes," the paper quoted a spokeswoman as saying.
"And why didn't it inform the tower controller earlier?"
At one point, the two aircraft came perilously close for there to be a risk of collision, according to an aviation forum quoted in The Global Times.
"A Mayday is rare and means the plane is in an extreme emergency and may even face the danger of a crash," the paper quoted an unnamed senior air traffic control official as saying.
China's civil aviation authority said in a statement it was investigating the incident and those responsible would be "severely punished".
The Qatar plane landed safely after the incident.
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