Wreckage of the 9-seat Cessna 208B propeller seaplane is being salvaged after its fatal crash during maiden flight in Jinshan District, leaving 5 on board killed.(Photo/Xinhua)
China's civil aviation regulator yesterday "blacklisted" a senior official of Joy General Aviation after its seaplane crashed in Jinshan District in July killing five people.
Zhou Hua, deputy operational director and chief pilot of the carrier, had been banned for life from serving as a supervisor in the civil aviation industry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.
"Zhou was found being negligent, unqualified and employing trickeries along with other dishonest behaviors during his job on operational management and training as well as personal experiences," the administration said on its website. The wrongdoings had caused serious outcomes, it added. The administration found evidence against the official during its investigation of the fatal accident, the civil aviation administration said.
Zhou was reported to be aged 63 with more than 30,000 hours' flying experience over the past 46 years.
He had piloted another seaplane, from Jinshan City Beach to Zhoushan Archipelago, on July 20 — the same day the fatal accident happened.
He also accepted a group interview with local media to introduce the newly opened commercial sightseeing route to Zhoushan as chief pilot of the carrier.
Five people, including the co-pilot, were killed when the seaplane, a Cessna 208B, crashed into the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway No. 7835 Bridge at 12:20 as it was taking off from the sea near the beach. The captain Zhang Fuquan suffered severe injuries.
A preliminary investigation and evidence collection from the scene found the accident was not caused by mechanical problems, Xu Wei, a city government spokesperson has said.
The crash investigation is still continuing and its conclusions have yet to be announced.
Zhou became the fifth civil aviation official to be blacklisted since the administration initiated the blacklist scheme in August to "streamline safe operations and punish the dishonest behaviors on safety management," according to the administration.
Other blacklisted officials include the former president and general manager of Hebei Airlines, whose aircraft crashed in northeast Heilongjiang Province killing 44 people in August 2010.
Pilot error was blamed.
