BEIJING (Reuters) – Following the deadliest year for global commercial aviation since 2018, Chinese authorities have called for an industry hazard assessment to uncover any “hidden” operational dangers from routes to runways.
Last year, 318 people were killed in commercial aviation accidents around the world, according to data tracked by the U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network. The last time the death toll exceeded 300 was in 2018.
On Friday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said it had alerted Chinese airlines of potential safety threats and adjusted their routes.
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“The Civil Aviation Administration of China promptly reports flight safety risks to airlines and adjusts route plans to ensure safe operations,” Civil Aviation Administration of China official Shu Mingjiang said at a regular press conference.
On December 29, a Jeju Air jet flying from Thailand to South Korea encountered a bird strike in Muan, landed on its belly and overran the runway. The Boeing 737-800 crashed into an embankment and burst into flames, killing 179 people.
Earlier, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight took off from southern Russia when Ukrainian drones were attacking multiple cities and subsequently crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan. Azerbaijan’s president said the plane was damaged by accidental Russian ground fire.
Chinese airlines including Air China and China Southern have begun avoiding the region’s airspace, according to financial and investigative news outlet Caixin. Most Western airlines and many Asian airlines have avoided Russian airspace entirely since 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
In addition, the Civil Aviation Administration of China also instructed the airport to take bird strike prevention measures and comprehensively eliminate runway safety hazards.
Shu said the airport would “step up operations to remove birds from and around airport facilities.”
He also said airports have a responsibility to investigate “hidden hazards” to enhance runway safety.
In 2022, a China Eastern Airlines passenger plane crashed into a mountainous area in Guangxi, killing 132 people on board. This was the worst air crash in mainland China in 28 years. The Civil Aviation Administration of China also launched major aviation safety operations in 2022.
Nearly three years after the crash, the company has yet to release a final report outlining the cause of the crash. The Aviation Administration of China did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the report.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jamie Freed)
