Today, Sunday, the second black box of the ill-fated East China Airlines plane that crashed with 132 passengers was found, according to the China News Agency.
On Feb. 5, a Chinese Harbin Y-12 light civilian aircraft flew near the airspace of Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引), a small militarized island in the Matsu archipelago. A Ministry of National Defense spokesperson told a news conference that the plane had not entered Taiwan’s airspace, although an initial analysis suggested that it is too early to rule out that the aircraft was being used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force to test the island’s emergency response measures.
Opinions vary as to whether the plane’s abnormal flight path during the Lunar New Year holiday was a one-off incident
Neues und größtes Terminal am Flughafen Lhasa Gonggar in Betrieb genommen german.cri.cn - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from german.cri.cn Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Advertisement:
The new narrowbody jet of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is on track to be certified in 2021, its chief designer says. This means that the first C919 could be in service with launch customer China Eastern Airlines before the end of the year and that Boeing and Airbus could soon face real competition on the lucrative Chinese short-haul market.
During the National People’s Congress Friday, the aircraft’s chief designer said that he expects the plane to finish flight testing in 2021. Photo: Getty Images
Airworthiness certificate before the end of 2021
As reported by the South China Morning Post, the Chief Designer of COMAC’s narrowbody, Wu Guanghui, said today that he expects the aircraft to be certified within the current calendar year. The C919, meant to take up the competition with Boeing’s 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo, is set to finish its flight testing and gain airworthiness approval by the end of 2021.