Nando Times

Alarm prompts Chinese passenger jet to make emergency landing

The Associated Press

BEIJING (February 1, 2001 11:39 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A Boeing 777 passenger jet with 311 people on board made an emergency landing in central China after a fire alarm was triggered. The plane landed without injury and no fire was found, an airport official said.

The pilot of the China Southern Airlines jet landed in the city of Wuhan after the alarm went off midway through a flight from Beijing to the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, on Wednesday morning, said the official, who gave only his family name, Zhang.

A check of the aircraft turned up no sign of fire and none of the 307 passengers and four crew were injured, he said. A report Friday in the government-run China Youth Daily said air turbulence may have accidentally set off the alarm.

On Wednesday afternoon, the airline sent another plane to Wuhan to pick up the passengers and complete their journey to Shenzhen, the newspaper said.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001