Henan Airlines Crash Kills 42, Flights Canceled

A probe has been launched into Tuesday night’s Henan Airlines plane crash that killed 42 people. All of the other 54 passengers and crew on board were injured and 7 of them are in critical condition. Vice Minister Sun Baoshu of the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry is reportedly in critical condition, while another 17 ministry staff are alleged to have been on the flight, but there haven’t been any reports about how many of them survived.

The Henan Airlines flight is reported to have crashed while approaching the Lindu Airport, which is surrounded by forests, for landing. The jet broke into two pieces and caught fire upon impact. Authorities don’t believe sabotage was involved, while some of the survivors are saying that the jet missed the runway.

The State Council has created a special taskforce for the investigation, and they have already recovered the black boxes on the flight. This came after President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered a thorough investigation and renewed efforts to review air travel safety measures.

Lindu Airport was closed on Wednesday due to the crash, while Henan Airlines’ board of directors fired the general manager and put an acting manager in his place. The carrier has also suspended all its operations, and there hasn’t been any comment on when they will resume services. Other carriers in China have been calling emergency meetings to review safety measures as well.

This was the first fatal commercial airliner crash in China in 6 years. In November 2004, a China Eastern Airlines services crashed into a frozen lake not long after takeoff, killing 53 of the people on board. Since then, younger airline fleets and stricter regulations on safety have helped the country escape further air disasters.