Crash causes scare over smaller jets
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Tuesday's plane crash has heightened passengers' concerns over the safety of regional jets, but it will not cast a negative image on China's feeder flights in the long run, experts said.
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The charred wreckage of the Henan Airlines aircraft which crashed in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, Tuesday night, killing 42 people. The plane’s black box was found on Wednesday. |
After the news of the air crash in Yichun broke on Tuesday night, many travelers paid attention to the size of the plane when booking air tickets.
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Wang Ruyan, a 25-year-old Beijing resident, said she will choose to fly on large aircrafts only, even if the ticket price is higher.
The ERJ-190 model jet, the kind that crashed on Tuesday in Yichun of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, is a 104-seat regional jet serving the shorter-range regional routes between second-tier cities.
"I always worry about safety issues when flying on a small airplane, and this accident has added to my worries," she said.
"When my travel time is less than 10 hours, I will definitely consider ground transportation first," she said.
Li Xiaojin, a professor with the Civil Aviation University of China, said that the disaster no doubt will exert a bad influence on regional airlines for a short time period.
