Airline Crew Awarded Millions for Avoiding Deadly Plane Collision in Shanghai

The China Eastern near-miss we reported on last month has paid off for one pilot and crew.

Captain He Chao, a pilot for China Eastern Airlines received RMB3 million for avoiding the potential air tragedy. The entire crew was also rewarded RMB600,000. 

Chao was aboard flight MU5643 and as they were departing, another aircraft was using the same runway to land. Having to make a quick decision, Chao decided to proceed with the takeoff because the plane had already reached a speed of over 240 kilometers per hour. With Captain He Chao’s guidance the plane flew just 19 meters away from the landing plane.

The other airplane was a China Eastern A320. Air traffic controllers had given the pilot wrong directions, which lead to the aircraft landing in an already taken runway. The licenses of the two air traffic controllers were taken away and 13 other air traffic controllers were penalized for the occurrence.

[Image via shanghaidaily.com]