Chinese Air Crash

Times on Line
( http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,3,00.html)
55 killed in Chinese air crash
A passenger plane carrying 53 people crashed in a lake in northern China immediately after take-off, killing everyone on board and two others on the ground. The plane crashed in Baotou, a city in the Inner Mongolia region, seconds after taking off around 8.20am (0020 GMT), the official Xinhua News Agency said. It was carrying 47 passengers plus six crew members and was headed to Shanghai, the agency said. All were confirmed dead by government officials in Baotou. Two workers in Nanhai Park were also killed, it said. They were near the park's ticket office.
Note: 54 Killed by sina report

China Daily
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/21/content_393430.htm)
Plane crash kills 55 in Baotou
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-11-21 14:03
Chinese rescue workers refloat a body in a lake after a China Eastern Airlines flight crashed Sunday morning in Baotou, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonoous Region, Nov. 21, 2004. All 55 people on the plane were killed. 36 bodies have been recovered.
Chinese rescue workers recover a victim's body.
The wreckage of the crashed Mu5210 flight
Chinese rescue workers inspect the wreckage of a crashed China Eastern Airlines flight Sunday in a park in Baotou, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonoous Region. All 55 people on the plane were killed. 36 bodies have been recovered. [Xinhua]
Chinese rescue workers carry a body of a victim. 36 bodies have been recovered till press time. [Xinhua]
Chinese rescue workers row to the crash site. [Xinhua]
Parts of the plane wreckage have been recovered. [Xinhua]
Chinese rescue workers inspect the wreckage of the plane. [Xinhua]
Police medical team await at the rescue site. [Xinhua]

CCTV
(http://www.cctv.com/english/20041121/100461.shtml)
N. China plane crash kills 53
cctv.com 11-21-2004 15:01
A commuter plane owned by China Eastern Airlines has crashed into a frozen lake in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, killing all 53 people on board.
The accident happened early this morning seconds after takeoff from Baotou city airport. A rescue team rushed to the scene together with staff members from the airline and the People's Insurance Company of China. About 100 firefighters and police broke the ice in their search for bodies. Thirty-six have been recovered so far, and a fire caused by burning jet fuel on the ground has been put out. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

CNN
(http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/11/20/china.planecrash/index.html)
China plane crash kills 55
Sunday, November 21, 2004 Posted: 1104 GMT (1904 HKT)
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A commuter jet has crashed into a frozen lake in northern China seconds after takeoff, killing all 53 people aboard and two on the ground.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation and the flight data recorder has not been located, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Firefighters and rescue workers recovered the bodies of all 53 passengers and crew from the lake near the Inner Mongolian city of Baotou, according to Xinhua.
One of the passengers was Indonesian and the rest were Chinese nationals.
The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ200, with six crew members, took off from Baotou in the northern Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) west of Beijing en route to Shanghai.
The plane went down about 8:20 a.m. Sunday (1220 GMT), about 10 seconds after leaving the airport 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) away.
Witnesses said they saw the China Eastern Airlines plane break into flaming fragments, which set a house and several yachts on fire.
Wang Yongqiang, who lives near the park, said he saw black smoke billowing from the tail of the plane before it crashed and broke into fiery fragments, Xinhua said.
He also heard "a big blast" when the plane was still in the air, the agency said.
The weather was clear and cold in Baotou on Sunday, Xinhua said. State TV showed pieces of the burned plane in the lake and emergency workers in small rowboats pushing ice out of their way.
China Eastern has grounded all Bombardier planes amid the investigation.
The latest crash in China follows a spate of deadly plane crashes in the 1990s, prompting safety measures to be tightened and airplanes in the state-controlled aviation industry to be upgraded.
The last major crash was on May 7, 2002, when a China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunged into the sea off the northern city of Dalian, killing 112 people.
Officials blamed arson by a passenger who had taken out seven life insurance policies.

ABC
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=270233
Plane Crash in China Kills 55 People
Plane Crash in China Kills All 53 People Aboard Aircraft, Two on Ground
BEIJING Nov 21, 2004 — A small passenger plane crashed in an ice-covered lake in northern China seconds after takeoff Sunday, killing all 53 people aboard and two others on the ground, the government said.
The China Eastern Airlines plane went down in Baotou, a city in the Inner Mongolia region 330 miles northwest of Baghdad, after taking off at about 8:20 a.m., the official Xinhua News Agency said. ......