Tibet Airlines: Video Shows Chinese Airbus Burning After ‘Abnormalities,’ 113 Passengers Make Rapid Escape

An Airbus (AIR.PA) A319 plane of Tibet Airlines burst into flames after aborting a take-off, prompting the evacuation of all passengers and crew of the Chinese airline.

The company said in a statement no deaths and only minor surgeries were reported among the 113 passengers and nine crew members on board flight TV9833 following the incident in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reported that 36 individuals were brought to local hospitals for the treatment of the bruises and sprains they sustained during the evacuation.

The plane caught fire at 8:09 a.m. time zone (0009 GMT), according to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport as reported by Reuters.

What Went Wrong?

Authorities said the pilots interrupted the takeoff in accordance with procedures after experiencing abnormalities, resulting in an engine scrape and fire when the jet swerved off the runway.

The aviation regulator noted that emergency protocols were initiated and investigators hurried to the site.

One passenger said that a sudden shaking occurred, and oxygen masks were dropped, before the jet made a strange sound and drifted off the runway, as per Chinese media reports.

According to the passenger, who was identified by Chinese journalists as "Mr. A", crew personnel discovered that fuel oil was leaking and began evacuating people down slides. A fire broke out shortly after, prompting some passengers, including himself, to jump off the plane, he said, adding that he had sustained injuries to his back and legs.

Airbus was alerted of the Tibet Airline disaster and has launched an investigation into the incident.

One of the Few Chinese Aircraft Mishaps

The incident was China's second aircraft disaster in as many months following a fatal crash involving a China Eastern Airlines plane prompted the CAAC to conduct sector-wide inspections to look for any safety flaws.

China's flight safety record is generally outstanding. According to Fortune, the CAAC updated its safety regulations in the early 2000s, and the country had zero fatal incidents from 2000 to 2022. Two months ago, that streak came to an end tragically.

On March 21, a China Eastern flight en route to Guangzhou from Kunming abruptly plummeted and crashed, killing all 132 passengers on board. The flight data record for the Boeing737-800, which was recorded in the plane's so-called black boxes, was quickly recovered from the crash scene by salvage personnel. However, the cause of the crash is still unknown.

Daily Mail reported that the US National Transportation Safety Board is currently analyzing data from the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The crash shattered the plane and started a fire in the adjacent forest, leaving a 65-foot-deep crater on the slope.
There were about 49,000 pieces of plane debris discovered.

The cockpit voice recorder took two days to find, while the flight data recorder, which was buried five feet down, took six days.

As per a report from China Daily, Airbus has 53% of the Chinese aircraft market share. Last year, Airbus delivered 40% more aircraft to Chinese carriers, accounting for 23% of the company's overall sales.

Tags

China, Fire, Accident