Henan Airlines Flight 8387
Encyclopedia
Henan Airlines Flight 8387 (VD 8387) was a flight from Harbin Taiping International Airport
to the new Yichun Lindu Airport
, both located in Heilongjiang
province, China
. On the night of August 24, 2010 it crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu with 91 passengers and 5 crew members on board. This was the first hull-loss
and the first accident with fatalities involving an Embraer
E-190
.
Details surrounding the crash were unclear in the immediate aftermath of the incident; a local official reported that the aircraft broke in two as it was landing, and that passengers were thrown from the aircraft, though some survivors said that it remained intact until it came to a rest away from the runway.
Many passengers were participants of a national conference on human resources and employment, including vice minister Sun Baoshu and other officials of the national Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Two participants from Chengdu
were among the fatalities.
The pilot survived the accident, though he sustained heavy facial injuries.
Some survivors said that they escaped through a hole in the front of the plane.
On August 31, Henan Airlines announced that it would pay 960,000 yuan
(around $140,000 USD
) to the relatives of each person killed in the crash. The payment was required under PRC civil aviation law.
Henan Airlines cancelled all flights in the days after the incident and fired the airline's general manager. Nationally, Chinese airlines performed increased safety checks in response to the crash.
The Administration for Industry and Commerce of Henan Province announced days after the incident that it had rescinded the enterprise name registration of Henan Airlines, and demanded that the airline operator restore its original name of Kunpeng Airlines. The administration cited as reasons for its decision that the name Henan Airlines had caused public misunderstanding and greatly damaged the image of the province, which holds no stake in the airline operator. This move was immediately met with media criticism, which questioned the validity of the administration's interference with Henan Airlines' rights to choice of name. It was also revealed that the province had offered favorable conditions to attract the airline operator to adopt its current name, and celebrated the renaming afterwards.
(CAAC) and the aircraft's manufacturer, Embraer
, sent teams of investigators to the crash site. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board appointed an accredited representative, as the aircraft's General Electric CF34 engines were made in the U.S. The flight recorder
s were recovered at the scene and sent to Beijing
for analysis.
Early in the investigation, the qualifications of the pilot were focused on, as it emerged that upwards of a hundred pilots flying for Shenzhen Airlines
, Henan Airlines' parent company, had falsified their claims of flying experience.
Harbin Taiping International Airport
Harbin Taiping International Airport is an international airport in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.-History:Harbin Taiping Airport, formerly known as Yanjiagang Airport, is located about southwest of the city of Harbin and was constructed in 1979 with further expansion between 1994 and 1997 at a...
to the new Yichun Lindu Airport
Yichun Lindu Airport
Yichun Lindu Airport is an airport serving the city of Yichun in Heilongjiang Province, China. It started operations in August 2009, and is capable of serving 142,000 passengers a year...
, both located in Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
province, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. On the night of August 24, 2010 it crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu with 91 passengers and 5 crew members on board. This was the first hull-loss
Write-off
The term write-off describes a reduction in recognized value. In accounting terminology, it refers to recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, it refers to a reduction of taxable income as recognition of certain expenses required to produce the income...
and the first accident with fatalities involving an Embraer
Embraer
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....
E-190
Embraer E-Jets
The Embraer E-Jets are a series of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range, jet airliners produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and corporate aircraft. Announced at the Paris Air Show in 1999, and entering production in 2002, the aircraft series...
.
Crash
According to Yichun officials, the aircraft broke apart while it was in the process of landing at around 2136 local time (1336 UTC), while the airport was enclosed with fog. The aircraft touched down around 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) short of the runway, then caught fire. The wreckage of the fuselage came to a rest 700m from the runway. Some passengers escaped through gaps in the fuselage of the cabin.Details surrounding the crash were unclear in the immediate aftermath of the incident; a local official reported that the aircraft broke in two as it was landing, and that passengers were thrown from the aircraft, though some survivors said that it remained intact until it came to a rest away from the runway.
Casualties
The flight carried a total of 96 people, out of a capacity of 108, of which 91 were passengers and five were crew. Initial reports suggested that 53 people survived the crash, while 43 were found dead at the scene; later reports corrected the death toll to 42 because the body of one victim was torn apart. Most of the dead were seated in the rear of the aircraft. None of the rescued suffered life-threatening injuries, though all were brought to hospitals.Many passengers were participants of a national conference on human resources and employment, including vice minister Sun Baoshu and other officials of the national Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Two participants from Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
were among the fatalities.
The pilot survived the accident, though he sustained heavy facial injuries.
Some survivors said that they escaped through a hole in the front of the plane.
On August 31, Henan Airlines announced that it would pay 960,000 yuan
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
(around $140,000 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) to the relatives of each person killed in the crash. The payment was required under PRC civil aviation law.
Nationalities of casualties
| Nationality | Fatalities | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers | Crew | ||
 People's Republic of China |
38 | 3 | 41 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 39 | 3 | 42 |
Aftermath
Crews immediately began searching for survivors, although the efforts were hampered by fog. This phase of the rescue operation lasted for around eight hours before personnel at the scene began clearing the wreckage the morning after the accident.Henan Airlines cancelled all flights in the days after the incident and fired the airline's general manager. Nationally, Chinese airlines performed increased safety checks in response to the crash.
The Administration for Industry and Commerce of Henan Province announced days after the incident that it had rescinded the enterprise name registration of Henan Airlines, and demanded that the airline operator restore its original name of Kunpeng Airlines. The administration cited as reasons for its decision that the name Henan Airlines had caused public misunderstanding and greatly damaged the image of the province, which holds no stake in the airline operator. This move was immediately met with media criticism, which questioned the validity of the administration's interference with Henan Airlines' rights to choice of name. It was also revealed that the province had offered favorable conditions to attract the airline operator to adopt its current name, and celebrated the renaming afterwards.
Investigation
Both the Civil Aviation Administration of ChinaCivil Aviation Administration of China
The Civil Aviation Administration of China , formerly the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China , is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents...
(CAAC) and the aircraft's manufacturer, Embraer
Embraer
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....
, sent teams of investigators to the crash site. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board appointed an accredited representative, as the aircraft's General Electric CF34 engines were made in the U.S. The flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
s were recovered at the scene and sent to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
for analysis.
Early in the investigation, the qualifications of the pilot were focused on, as it emerged that upwards of a hundred pilots flying for Shenzhen Airlines
Shenzhen Airlines
Shenzhen Airlines is a domestic and international airlines headquartered in Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China....
, Henan Airlines' parent company, had falsified their claims of flying experience.
See also
- Air France Flight 358Air France Flight 358Air France Flight 358, a flight from Paris, France, to Toronto, Canada, using an Airbus A340 airliner, departed Paris without incident at 11:53 UTC 2 August 2005, later touching down on runway 24L-06R at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 20:01 UTC...
- American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport in USA. On June 1, 1999, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed...
- American Airlines Flight 331American Airlines Flight 331American Airlines Flight 331 was a scheduled international flight from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC to Kingston, Jamaica, via Miami, carrying 148 passengers and six crew, which overran the runway during a landing hampered by poor weather...
- Air India Express Flight 812Air India Express Flight 812Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled passenger service from Dubai to Mangalore which at around 01:00 UTC on 22 May 2010, overshot the runway on landing, fell over a cliff and caught fire, spreading wreckage across the surrounding hillside...
- TAP Portugal Flight 425TAP Portugal Flight 425TAP Air Portugal Flight 425, tail number CS-TBR, was a Boeing 727 aircraft named Sacadura Cabral en route from Brussels, Belgium, to Madeira airport , Portugal, with an intermediate scheduled stop in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 19, 1977.Shortly before 9:48pm on that Saturday evening, after 13...
- TAM Airlines Flight 3054TAM Airlines Flight 3054TAM Airlines Flight 3054 was an Airbus A320 airliner, registration PR-MBK, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Porto Alegre and São Paulo, Brazil, which crashed upon landing during rain in São Paulo on July 17, 2007...
- Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight LX 3597 was an Avro RJ100 regional airliner, registration HB-IXM, on a scheduled flight from Berlin, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland that crashed during its approach to land at Zurich Airport on 24 November 2001...
- Caribbean Airlines Flight 523Caribbean Airlines Flight 523Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 was a flight from New York to Georgetown, Guyana with a stopover in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 30 July 2011. The flight was under command of Captain Fareed Dean, 51, with 25 years of experience and First Officer Jason Naipaul, 23...
External links
- "COMMUNIQUÉ – EMBRAER 190 ACCIDENT IN CHINA." EmbraerEmbraerEmbraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....
- "关于河南航空公司VD8387航班在黑龙江伊春机场附近失事的通告." Henan Airlines
- "河南航空VD8387航班失事 民航局工作组赶赴现场." Civil Aviation Administration of ChinaCivil Aviation Administration of ChinaThe Civil Aviation Administration of China , formerly the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China , is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents...