Cargo fire further dents China’s aviation safety record
13 / 09 / 2010
THE bellyhold of a China Southern passenger A321 caught fire on Monday 13 September, the second fire for the airline in 24 hours.
The cargo hold caught fire after passengers and cargo had been loaded and before taxiing for take off at Gungzhou Baiyun International Airport.
The cause has so far been limited only to “combustibles” in the hold. No further information is currently available.
While not necessarily cause for alarm it does nothing to ease worries about China’s aviation industry, following, as it does, immediately after a China Southern tyre fire the day before, the Hainan Airlines crash that killed 42 and an investigation that revealed 200 pilots who forged their employment history papers.
