Chinese airliner crashes into bay

A Chinese airliner with 112 people on board crashed into the sea off north-eastern China yesterday after the captain reported a fire in the cabin. There were no survivors.

The China Northern Airlines jet carrying 103 passengers and nine crew was on a flight from Beijing to Dalian, a port 280 miles east of the capital, when it crashed into a bay off Dalian at about 9.40pm local time.

A witness said the plane, its lights darkened, circled several times before going down.

Eight foreigners were reported to be on board, including passengers from Japan and South Korea, but most were residents of Dalian. Local police reported they had begun DNA testing to identify victims. Dalian's two biggest hospitals said they were on stand-by but had received no survivors or bodies.

The plane, identified as China Northern Flight 6136, was an MD-82 airliner. The aircraft took off at 8.37pm and air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight less than an hour later.

The plane went missing in the Bohai Sea some 12 miles from Dalian's airport. "We sent every boat we could find," said a Dalian port authority official. "There are so many boats, and they've all got their lights on. It's very bright."

An official at China Northern Airlines said the plane's landing was controlled. "The fuselage is intact," the official said. "The pilot was in control."

On 15 April, Air China Flight CA129 from Beijing slammed into a forest-covered mountain in heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea.

* An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 with about 62 passengers and crew on board crashed last night as it was attempting to land at Tunis airport, killing at least 20 people. Reports said 13 people had been taken to hospital.