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Plane crash hurts NE China city's tourism, economic growth ambitions

Tuesday night`s plane crash that killed 42 people in Yichun City in northeast China`s Heilongjiang Province is a deadly blow to the city`s tourism ambitions and hopes to quickly develop its economy.

The ERJ-190 jet that crashed was manufactured by Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer. It had a maximum passenger capacity of 108.

The jet crashed two kilometers from Yichun`s Lindu Airport at 9:36 p.m., about 40 minutes after it had taken off from the provincial capital, Harbin.

The flight was operated by Henan Airlines, a small carrier based in central China`s Henan Province that has only five aircraft -- all ERJ-190s.

It had 96 people on board -- including five children, five crew members and a man from Taiwan, and 54 survived.

The plane`s two black boxes were retrieved Wednesday morning and experts are hoping their data will help pinpoint the cause of the accident.

While investigators from the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) - the industry`s watchdog - said it would take some time to determine the cause of the crash, survivors and Internet users` speculation has centered on possibility of system failure, technical error and weather conditions, as well as the design of Lindu Airport.

The airport was shrouded in heavy fog Tuesday night, with visibility about 200 meters at dawn.

The airport was closed after the accident and all Henan Airlines flights were canceled Wednesday.

Lindu Airport, located in a mountainous valley and with thick forest, is about 9 kilometers from downtown Yichun. It opened only in August last year.

"I have traveled several times on that route," said Liu Jingyang, an office worker in Harbin. "Every time the landing was scary. The airport is surrounded by dense forests and mountains -- the runway is in the middle of nowhere."

Before construction began on the airport in 2008, a move designed to boost tourism and accelerate local economic growth, many locals questioned its necessity.

With a population of 1 million, Yichun is 350 kilometers from the provincial capital, Harbin, and the trip by air takes only 40 minutes. The airfare is about 500 yuan -- about six times the bus fare and barely affordable for most locals.

Yichun is one of the least developed cities in Heilongjiang Province. Last year, average annual income for urban families in the city was 10,000 yuan.

The city has huge forestry reserves, with 82.2-percent forest coverage, and it is China`s leading lumber production base. The local economy largely relies on forestry industry and an iron and steel group.

In its report to the local parliamentary session early this year, the city government said it hoped to boost tourism to reduce its reliance on its finite natural resources.

"In 2009, the city received 3.82 million tourists and earned 1.9 billion yuan in tourism revenue, up 13.5 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively, year on year," the report said.

Upon Lindu Airport`s opening last year, the Heilongjiang branch of China Southern Airlines, one of the country`s leading carriers, issued a flight safety rules document. In it, the carrier said it would not operate night flights at the airport in autumn or winter.

Like most parts of northeastern China, Yichun is frequently battered by heavy snowfalls from November until March, and the weather is often foggy in autumn.

SURVIVORS` ACCOUNT

"Someone dragged me to an emergency exit door and threw me out before I realized what was going on."

Eight-year-old Ji Yifan apparently knows little of how he narrowly escaped death.

Ji was among the crash`s 54 survivors.

The evacuation slide that was on fire broke as he was sliding down it.

"I fell to the ground. Again someone dragged me aside," Ji, his right cheek bandaged and his face, neck and arms bruised, told a reporter from his hospital bed.

A man who suffered slight head injuries remembered strong turbulence shortly after the announcement the plane was about to land.

"There were four or five periods of bad turbulence. Bags in the overhead lockers crashed down," he said. "Everyone panicked. Those sitting in the back of the plane began rushing to the front."

"There was smog, which I knew was toxic. I held my breath and ran until I saw a burning hole on one side of the cabin. I crawled out of it and ran 100 meters to ensure I would be safe."

Several survivors realized the plane had crashed as it hit the land.

"I looked out of the window and I couldn`t see anything -- it was pitch black and there was no light," said Xue Xilai, who was sitting in the 10th row of the jet near an emergency exit.

The jet broke into two pieces before exploding. Most of the casualties were sitting in the back.

The flight`s 40-year pilot survived but he has been unable to give a clear account of the accident yet.

In an interview with Xinhua, Qi Quanjun said he could not remember how the aircraft landed.

The city`s top official, Xu Zhaojun, said Wednesday the pilot had communicated with air traffic controllers on the ground.

"He said he could see the lights on the runway and that he was ready for a normal landing," said Xu quoting airport authorities.

The injured were hospitalized at four hospitals in Yichun and several hundred medical experts from across the province have rushed to help treat the survivors.

A team of officials from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and its provincial bureaus were also on board the flight. The 18 were en route to a meeting in Yichun.

A ministry employee in Beijing who refused to be named said she knew at least two of her colleagues from southwestern China`s Sichuan Province died.

Vice Minister Sun Baoshu is in critical condition.

"He suffered broken bones and injures to his brain and lungs," said Dr. Li Jinchang, who operated on Sun overnight.

According to the death roll released by the Yichun City government, the dead were aged between 12 and 55 years of age.

Embraer`s Beijing office said it has sent a team of Chinese and Brazilian technicians to the scene.

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

The number of airline trips taken in China grew from 67.2 million in 2000 to 230.5 million in 2009, according to CAAC. The number is expected to hit 260 million this year.

SAFETY VS ECONOMIC BOOM

Tuesday`s plane crash put an end to a record 2,102 days of safe air travel in China -- 69 months without an accident -- according to CAAC statistics.

China`s last major commercial aircraft crash happened in November 2004 when a CRJ200 operated by China Eastern Airlines crashed shortly after take-off in Baotou City in northern China`s Inner Mongolia. The crash killed 55 people, including two on the ground.

Yichun also hit the headlines last week when a fireworks factory explosion killed 20 and injured 153.

Investigators said the plant was illegally operating as its production license was suspended in June pending a safety overhaul.

In November 2009, one of the deadliest colliery explosions of recent years killed 108 at a state-owned pit in Hegang City, which is near Yichun.

Cheng Enfu, chairman of the World Association of Political Economy and professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, blamed excessive economic growth for most of the dilemmas and problems that China faces.

Chinese GDP grew 11.1 percent year on year in the first half of 2010.

"In the pursuit of high GDP growth, local governments will do anything, regardless of the consequences. They encourage exports and the production of pollution- and energy-intensive products and excessive exploitation of natural resources," he said in an interview with Xinhua last month.

Despite the central government`s repeated calls for overhauls and crackdowns on illegal production, workplace safety remains a problem in China.

Workplace accidents in China left 33,876 people dead in the first half of the year, an average of about 186 deaths every day, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.

An underground blaze left 16 miners dead at a gold mine in Zhaoyuan City in east China`s Shandong Province on Aug. 7 while a gas outburst killed 12 miners at a coal mine in southwest China`s Guizhou Province on Aug. 3.

In late July, an explosion caused by a leak of propylene gas killed 13 people near a plant in Nanjing City in east China`s Jiangsu Province.

 
Date:2010-8-26 8:07:57     
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