The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Monday (March 8) that it attaches great importance to the alleged air dispute involving the crew of East China Sea Airlines and that the investigation into the matter is underway.
The South Central Regional Administration of Civil Aviation also said that after the relevant situation is ascertained, it will “deal with the responsible units and personnel in accordance with the law” and that “the civil aviation industry management will severely punish any behavior that endangers aviation safety in accordance with the law”.
According to Chinese media reports, the incident occurred on Feb. 20 on East China Sea Airlines flight DZ6297 (Nantong-Xi’an), when a first-class passenger wanted to use the restroom, but the captain was already in the restroom. A male flight attendant asked the passenger to go back to his seat and wait, but the passenger ignored him. When the captain came out of the restroom and found the passenger waiting outside, he reprimanded the male flight attendant for not doing his job properly and affecting flight safety.
The two then exchanged blows, resulting in a broken hand for the flight attendant and half of the captain’s incisors being knocked out.
It is reported that it is an unsafe situation for the captain to enter and exit the cockpit when there are people outside. If the captain comes out of the bathroom and needs to re-enter the cockpit, but there are passengers waiting outside at that Time, there is a safety risk.
East China Sea Airlines issued a statement of apology on its Weibo account on Monday. The statement mentioned that the company has made the first time to deal with the incident and suspended the personnel involved in the incident, regardless of their positions, and will implement the responsibility and deal with them seriously, and will not tolerate the shortcomings.
The statement also said that East China Sea Airlines has carried out a full staff safety audit in accordance with the requirements of the civil aviation authorities, and has made immediate improvements to the problems found during the audit.
Tokai Air also said, “We will take this incident as an opportunity to carry out a solid safety overhaul, build a solid safety bottom line, and resolutely prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
Established in November 2002, East China Sea Airlines is the first private sino-foreign joint venture airline in China, approved by the Ministry of Commerce and the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The airline has also previously drawn public attention for irregularities in its operations.
Back in 2018, East China Sea Airlines captain Chen had allowed his wife into the cockpit without permission, violating relevant safety and operational regulations. The airline said it had dealt seriously with the flight crew and given an internal notification. Among the penalties imposed on Captain Chen were a six-month suspension, disqualification of the instructor and a fine of RMB 12,000.
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