China denies online rumours' blaming co-pilot for plane crash killing 132
Beijing(PTI): The cause of China's recent passenger plane crash which killed 132 people remains under investigation, a Chinese aviation official has said, rejecting online speculation that the co-pilot may be responsible for the tragic accident.
The Chinese passenger plane crashed in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 21, killing all 132 people on board including the nine crew members. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, which flew from Kunming to Guangzhou, plunged into the mountains in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou.
Rumours have been doing rounds online that the co-pilot "might be responsible" for the crash, attributing it to the data from black boxes, with some believing that the CAAC will require flight crews to undergo mental health monitoring, the state-run Global Times reported.
China's civil aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), refuted such rumours over the co-pilot's involvement in the crash of China Eastern flight MU5375, saying the accident is still under investigation, and no conclusions have been drawn on the cause and nature of the accident yet.
The "rumours", claimed to be sourced from some public security departments are misleading, would undermine public confidence in the ongoing investigation, and may represent a violation of the law, said Wu Shijie, a CAAC official told the official media on Monday.
"We will try our best to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible and release the relevant information according to the law and procedures," he said.
Wu said the crash has had an impact on the welfare of frontline civil aviation workers, and some employees have suffered from emotional strain, particularly younger workers.
The CAAC attaches great importance to the mental well-being of aviation workers and requested that airlines take measures to support pilots, flight attendants and safety officers in managing their psychological pressure.
Early this month a working group sent by the US National Transportation Safety Board arrived in China to help investigate the crash of the China Eastern Airlines aircraft.
The seven-member panel, consisting of authorised representatives and technical advisors, will participate in the investigation organised by the CAAC.
Airline safety management is focused on the mental state and health of all aircrew, including pilots, and it is a key function of the regulation, CAAC said.
The aviation industry recently held a two-week-long safety review, stating that it had addressed a number of safety hazards, after the fatal crash of Flight MU5375, killing all 132 persons onboard, the Global Times reported.
Concrete measures should be taken to strengthen the investigation of hidden dangers concerning aircraft maintenance, flight weather conditions, personnel qualifications and technical ability, China's civil aviation regulator said.
China's aviation officials have said that there had not been any weather or other hazards endured by the flight on its route path. China Eastern said the plane, less than seven years old, had also passed all pre-flight checks.
There were three pilots, China Eastern officials said. The captain had 6,709 hours of flying experience, and the first and second officers had 31,769 hours and 556 hours respectively.
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TMC MLA Humayun Kabir apologises for claiming 'coterie' influencing Mamata's decisions
Kolkata (PTI): Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir has apologised to the party's leadership for his recent comment that a "coterie" was influencing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's key decisions.
Kabir, the MLA of Bharatpur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, expressed his apology on Friday in reply to a show cause notice issued by the party's disciplinary committee.
"Yes, I have sent a reply. I will certainly follow party discipline. But I think being a person from the rural belt, not conversant with the ways of the city, I faced this situation for speaking my mind. However, I had not said anything against my party or its leadership," he told reporters.
"Our CM epitomises the spirit of 'Maa-Mati-Manush' and being a person of the grassroots level, I always stay rooted to the ground. Maybe I should have been more careful about my way of expressing," he said.
A senior member of the TMC's legislative disciplinary committee said the reply to the show cause letter was received, and a decision on it will be communicated soon.
Kabir, however, said some other TMC MPs had on earlier occasions made comments against party colleagues but were not censured.
On Thursday, he met the CM in the assembly's lobby where she had asked him to reply to the show-cause notice first.
On November 26, Kabir had said a coterie within the party was taking certain decisions to cement their position and was influencing the CM's key decisions for their short-term gains.
He had said this a day after the TMC national executive meeting where the party had categorically asked its leaders not to make comments in public against any internal decision and formed disciplinary committees at different levels.
Kabir had earlier advocated for giving more responsibility to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, reiterating that the Diamond Harbour MP was undoubtedly the number two in the party's hierarchy and those trying to undermine his influence would not succeed.
