Regulator revokes Juneyao pilot's license
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Shanghai Daily, August 30, 2011
China's civil aviation regulator has revoked the license of the South Korean pilot of Juneyao Airlines who refused to give way to a Qatar Airways plane that was running out of fuel as both planes waited to land at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport.
The Korean pilot is banned from flying an airplane as a crewmember in China for life. The license of the co-pilot will be suspended for six months, according to the penalty handed down by the East China Regional Administration under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Xinhua news agency reported today.
The CAAC said the crew of Juneyao flight HO1112 seriously violated regulations and ethics codes. Juneyao Airlines' request to expand its business, set up branch offices and rent or purchase aircraft temporarily will be denied by the administration. It will cut its capacity by 10 percent for three months.
The pilot of Qatari flight QR888 sent a Mayday signal and asked to land first as its fuel would soon be used up on August 13. Air traffic control asked Juneyao plane to give way six times in 7 minutes, but the pilot refused, saying he had little fuel left too. The air traffic control had to rearrange landing orders to secure a safe landing of the Qatari plane.
Investigation found Juneyao's smaller Airbus A320 plane had 2.9 tons of fuel left, meaning it could have stayed in the air for another hour. The Qatari Boeing 777-300 jet had 5.2 tons of fuel, enough for 48 minutes of flight, the CAAC said.
