China crash kills 42 as plane overshoots runway

A passenger plane overshot a runway while landing at a new airport in northeast China late on Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing 42 people of 96 on board, the nation's worst air disaster since 2004.

The accident will be a jolt for China's fast-growing aviation sector, which has had no major accident in recent years, thanks to stricter safety rules, better training and relatively young fleets of mainly Western-made aircraft.

The Henan Airlines plane crashed at 9.36 pm (1336 GMT) in Yichun, a remote city of one million in Heilongjiang province surrounded by forests, after flying from provincial capital Harbin, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

The airline has grounded all flights for the next three days, an official told Reuters by telephone, declining further comment.

Yichun has a small domestic airport that only opened last year, one of an increasing number of airports built in distant parts of China to help boost economic development.

While the cause of the crash is still being investigated, Caijing magazine cited local rules as saying that Yichun airport is "in principle" not supposed to operate at night.

State media initially said 43 people had died but later revised down the death toll by one. Seven of the 54 survivors were severely injured, Yichun mayor Wang Aiwen was quoted as saying.

Their injuries included burns, cuts and broken limbs.

"When I looked out the window, I couldn't see anything. There were no lights at all," Xinhua quoted survivor Xue Xilai as saying. "Soon after that, the plane bounced heavily on the ground and then broke in two."

There were 91 passengers, including five children, as well five crew members on board the ERJ-190, built by Brazil's Embraer (EMBR3.SA) (ERJ.N), Xinhua said. The passengers appeared to be mainland Chinese, except for one person from Taiwan.

"When the back part of the plane landed, I felt a strong jolt, and then the plane seemed to begin to come apart," another survivor told state television from his hospital bed.

"I began to run, but there was no way out ahead or behind. Then we saw a crack and ran through it to escape," he added.

Xinhua said one of those seriously injured was vice-minister of human resources Sun Baoshu, who was heading to Yichun for a meeting.