Emergency on smog-diverted Chinese plane as two airports refuse landing: report

Chinese aviation authorities have defended their handling of a Beijing-bound passenger aircraft's diversion to an eastern city after a newspaper alleged that the flight's pilots had been forced to declare an emergency as its fuel ran low. 

Pilots of the Beijing-bound China Eastern Airlines MU750 declared an emergency when smog forced the plane to divert and it was refused permission to land by two alternative airports, the Changjiang Commercial News reported on Wednesday. 

Flight MU750 from Asahikawa, Japan was unable to land in Beijing on Saturday evening due to low visibility caused by heavy air pollution that had enveloped the city, it said. 

The pilots of the plane, an Airbus A321 carrying nearly 200 passengers, then requested to divert to Jinan and Qingdao airports in the eastern province of Shandong. But the request was denied by local air control, who said the airports could not allow the plane to land unless its fuel was running low, the newspaper said. 

The plane was then forced to keep circling in the air east of Beijing. It was finally permitted to land at Qingdao Liuting International Airport when its fuel ran low after circling in the air for 40 minutes. The pilots declared an emergency as the plane flew towards Qingdao, the report said.

When the plane finally touched the ground at Qingdao airport after midnight, it only had enough fuel to sustain flying for another half an hour, the report said.

The report cited aviation experts as saying “the amount wouldn’t be enough for it to make a second landing attempt”.

Qingdao airport did not respond to the Post's enquires for comment on Wednesday.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the flight never requested to land at Jinan airport in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

“Qingdao Liuting International Airport granted the plane's landing request despite its parking spots being strained,” the statement said, citing CAAC’s investigation of the incident.   

It added that when plane landed at Qingdao, it still had more fuel than the minimal level required by China Eastern Airlines’ Operation Manual.

China Eastern Airlines denied any abnormal situation had occurred during the flight when contacted by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.

A spokesman said “the cabin crew closely following standard procedures” and “made landing safely." But he said that he was not authorised to elaborate on other details mentioned in the report.

The report has drawn criticism from members of the public who accused air traffic control of neglecting passenger safety.

The aviation channel of news portal Sina.com.cn said Jinan and Qingdao airports would only grant MU750 landing permission on the condition it was running low on fuel because they were already fully occupied at the time. Under civil aviation procedure they could only accept landing requests from flights that were running low on fuel.

Heavy air pollution in Beijing and its surrounding areas severely disrupted flights to and from the city at the weekend when the city’s Air Quality Index surged to 470, or “severely polluted” on Saturday night.

Visibility was down to 200 metres at Beijing Capital International Airport, making it difficult for aircraft to land safely and forcing several flights to land at nearby alternative airports.

Some 60 flights to Beijing were diverted in a two-hour period from 11pm on Saturday.

Aeroflot flight 200 from Moscow circled for 90 minutes above Beijing as it waited for a cold front to disperse smog and raise visibility levels. Meanwhile, Hainan Airlines flight 7602 from Shanghai circled over Beijing for 90 minutes on Saturday night waiting for the smog to disperse and eventually had to divert to Jinan when its fuel ran low.