China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210
{{Short description|2004 aviation accident}}
{{distinguish|China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| occurrence_type = Accident
| name = China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210
| image = CRJ-200ER B-3072 China Yunnan Airlines Birmingham Nov 2002.jpg
| caption = B-3072, the aircraft involved in the accident
| date = {{start-date|21 November 2004|21 November 2004}}
| type = Atmospheric icing leading to loss of control
| site = Baotou Erliban Airport, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China
| coordinates = {{coord|40|39|03|N|109|50|31|E|type:airport_region:CN-15_source:kolossus-plwiki|display=inline,title}}
| total_fatalities = 55
| passengers = 47
| crew = 6
| survivors = 0
| fatalities = 53
| aircraft_type = Bombardier CRJ200ER
| tail_number = B-3072
| origin = Baotou Erliban Airport
| stopover = Beijing Capital International Airport
| destination = Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
| operator = China Eastern Yunnan Airlines
| IATA = MU5210
| ICAO = CES5210
| callsign = CHINA EASTERN 5210
| ground_fatalities = 2
| occupants = 53
}}
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 (CES5210/MU5210), also known as the Baotou Air Disaster, was a flight from Baotou Erliban Airport in Inner Mongolia, China, to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, with a planned stopover at Beijing Capital International Airport. On 21 November 2004, just two minutes after takeoff, the Bombardier CRJ200ER fell from the sky and crashed into a lake in Nanhai Park, next to the airport, killing all 53 people on board and two more on the ground.
An investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) revealed that the plane had not been deiced by the ground crew while it was parked on the tarmac. Ice accumulation on the wings caused the plane to lose its lift, causing the crash. It is the deadliest accident involving a CRJ100/200 series, and was the deadliest in China Eastern Airlines' history at that time until the crash of Flight 5735 on 21 March 2022, which killed 132 crew and passengers.{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aviation Safety Database results|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/types/Bombardier-CRJ100-200-440/database|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425225725/https://aviation-safety.net/database/types/Bombardier-CRJ100-200-440/database|archive-date=2019-04-25|access-date=2019-04-25|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network}}
Accident
Flight 5210 was operated by a Bombardier CRJ200ER, SN 7697, which was powered by two General Electric CF34-3B1 engines, which was delivered in November 2002, two years prior to the crash. At the time of the accident, the plane was still painted with China Yunnan Airlines livery, despite the airline having merged with China Eastern Airlines in 2003. The plane took off at 08:21 local time, 15 minutes ahead of schedule, carrying 47 passengers and six crew members. Ten seconds after taking off, the airplane shook for several seconds and then fell to the ground. The plane skidded through a park and crashed into a house, a park ticketing station, and a port, setting fire to several moored yachts. It then plunged into an icy lake. All 53 people on board and two park employees on the ground were killed in the crash.{{ASN accident|id=20041121-0}}
=Search and rescue=
Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao and Huang Ju, ordered an immediate rescue operation.{{cite web |date=22 November 2004 |title= |script-title=zh:胡锦涛温家宝黄菊就东航坠机事件作出重要指示 |trans-title=Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Huang Ju made important instructions on the crash of China Eastern Airlines |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shizheng/1024/3002914.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206213137/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shizheng/1024/3002914.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |publisher=People's Daily |language=zh}} More than 100 firefighters were dispatched to the crash site. Also sent to the disaster site were 250 police officers, 50 park staff, and 20 divers. Rescuers had to break through the ice to retrieve bodies. By the end of the day, crews had recovered 36 bodies from the frozen lake. According to a doctor who worked in a nearby hospital, rescuers had only recovered bodily organs and intestines of victims.{{cite web |date=24 November 2004 |title= |script-title=zh:苍天无情 人间有爱—写在“11·21”空难发生后 |trans-title=Heaven is ruthless, there is love in the world - written after the "11. 21" air crash |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010566.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206204833/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010566.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |publisher=People's Daily |language=zh}}
Rescue efforts were hampered by the low temperatures. By the day after the crash, most of the plane had been recovered from the lake. A team of rescue experts from the Ministry of Communications' Maritime Bureau also arrived at the crash site on 22 November.{{cite web |date=23 November 2004 |title= |script-title=zh:民航总局：包头空难调查结果要经得起历史鉴定 |trans-title=Civil Aviation Administration of China: Baotou air crash investigation results must withstand historical appraisal |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/guoji/1029/3007512.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206213531/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/guoji/1029/3007512.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |publisher=People's Daily |language=zh}} On 24 November, investigators located the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) by the radio pings that the devices emitted.{{cite web |date=24 November 2004 |title= |script-title=zh:千呼万唤始出来 包头空难“黑匣子”打捞侧记 |trans-title=Thousands of calls come out. Baotou air crash "black box" salvage side note |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010687.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206201513/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010687.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |publisher=People's Daily |language=zh}}{{cite web |date=24 November 2004 |title= |script-title=zh:飞机“黑匣子”是橙红色的 重约20–30公斤 |trans-title=The aircraft "black box" is orange-red and weighs about 20–30 kg. |url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010005.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206204313/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/1062/3010005.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |access-date=12 July 2017 |publisher=People's Daily |language=zh}}
Passengers and crew
On 23 November, the flight's passenger manifest was released by China Eastern officials. Of the 47 passengers on board, 46 were Chinese. Officials confirmed that only one foreigner was on board, from Indonesia.{{cite news |date=22 November 2004 |title=China plane crash kills 54 |work=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/11/20/china.planecrash/ |url-status=dead |access-date=12 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206221427/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/11/20/china.planecrash/ |archive-date=6 December 2017}} The flight crew members were identified as Captain Wang Pin ({{Lang-zh|c=王品}}) (33), Vice Captain Yang Guang ({{Lang-zh|c=杨光}}) (37), and First Officer Yi Qinwei ({{Lang-zh|c=易沁炜}}) (27), plus two flight attendants and a security officer.{{Cite web |date=2004-11-21 |title=包头客机坠毁：东航云南公司失事机组人员名单 |trans-title=Baotou passenger plane crash: List of crew members of China Eastern Airlines Yunnan Company |url=http://news.qq.com/a/20041121/000369.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207114813/http://news.qq.com/a/20041121/000369.htm |archive-date=2005-02-07 |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=qq.com |language=zh}}
Investigation
Many witnesses stated that the plane shook for several seconds, and then exploded in midair. According to one witness, a blast occurred at the tail of the plane. Smoke began to pour from the plane before it crashed into the park, becoming a fireball, and then skidded across the park and into the lake. Others claimed that the plane exploded into "flaming fragments" in the air before it crashed.{{cite news |date=20 November 2004 |title=China: No evidence terrorism downed plane |work=NBC News |publisher=NBC |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6542052 |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102192524/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6542052/ns/world_news/t/china-no-evidence-terrorism-downed-plane/#.WWVkZ4SGPDc |archive-date=2 November 2018}}
The crash occurred just three months after the bombing of a Tupolev Tu-154 and a Tupolev Tu-134 over Russia, which killed 90 people. At the time, investigators of the Russian bombings found traces of explosives aboard the two planes. Investigators at the crash of Flight 5120, however, stated that they did not find any evidence of terrorism, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
The crash was also just one month after Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, which also involved a CRJ200, prompting the Civil Aviation Administration of China to ground all CRJ200's for one month, until no technical faults with the aircraft were determined.{{Cite web |date=2004-12-24 |title=国内18架庞巴迪飞机适航 民航总局决定恢复运行 |trans-title=18 domestic Bombardier aircraft are airworthy and CAAC decides to resume operation |url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2004-12-24/05224612249s.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810060507/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2004-12-24/05224612249s.shtml |archive-date=2014-08-10 |access-date=2021-04-27 |language=zh}}{{Cite web |date=2005-01-06 |title=包头空难阴影未消 CRJ-200复飞上座率大跌 |trans-title=The shadow of the Baotou air crash has not disappeared, and the occupancy rate of CRJ-200's go-around has plummeted |url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2005-01-06/08045441240.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810060412/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2005-01-06/08045441240.shtml |archive-date=2014-08-10 |accessdate=2012-10-20}}
Aftermath
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|China|Aviation}}
- [http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/8217/40946/index.html Topic on "11.21 Air Disaster"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218032348/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/8217/40946/index.html |date=18 February 2007 }} from People's Daily (in simplified Chinese)]
- {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20121216042716/http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=11212004®=B-3072&airline=China+Yunnan+Airlines Accident database from airdisaster.com]}}
- [https://www.airliners.net/search?registrationActual=B-3072&display=detail Accident aircraft photos from airliners.net]
{{Aviation incidents and accidents in 2004}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in China}}
{{China Eastern Airlines}}
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by ice
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2004
Category:21st century in Inner Mongolia
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in China
Category:2004 disasters in China
Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Bombardier CRJ200