Published on : Tuesday, March 5, 2019
The emergency landing was triggered by a fire alarm that went off in the aircraft’s cargo compartment as it was flying above Russia, Air China said in an apology on Weibo on Tuesday.
However, all the passengers and crew of CA983 were evacuated safely by inflatable slides at Anadyr airport located in Russia’s easternmost town in the sub-Arctic district of Chukotka.
A video of the evacuation scene circulating on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, showed passengers walking from the plane in freezing temperatures of around -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), while the slides moved violently in the strong wind.
The aircraft took off from Beijing at 9.13pm on Monday and landed at Anadyr at 2.55am. Passengers were transferred to the terminal while they waited for another plane to fly them to their destination.
A check of the Boeing 777 suggested a malfunction in the alarm system as no sign of fire could be found, the company said.
“Examinations after landing showed the cargo compartment was in normal condition and there was no sign of fire. We therefore came to an initial conclusion that the alarm was triggered due to malfunction,” it said.
Tags: air china