A?coach plane crashed shortly after takeover Tuesday
morning from Mianyang City, southwest China's Sichuan
Province, said sources with the China Civil Aviation College.
Two crew, a coach and a student, were killed in the
crash.??
The plane plunged into ground one kilometer away from the
runway, when it was diverting to its course after takeover, said
the sources.
The France-made plane, TB200, belongs to?the college, which
is headquartered in Guanghan County, 23 km away from Chengdu,
capital of the province.
The college has a flight training base in Mianyang.
The weather was fine with a visibility reaching 4.5 kilometers when
the accident occurred, said the sources.
Earlier reports said that at about 9 am, the plane crashed into
a vineyard in Shitang township, Mianyang, causing no explosion and
fire, after hovering a circle in the air.
No accidents were reported during the plane's service over the
past 14 years.
The college has 107 coach planes and more than 500 coaches, more
than 100 of whom have all-weather flight experience of more than
2,500 hours each.
Investigators from the country's Southwest Civil Aviation
Administration have rushed to the scene to direct the rescue and
aftermath work. Further investigation into the accident is going
on.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2004)
