Small government plane missing in northwest China

Small government plane missing in northwest China

2011-03-30 17:03:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

URUMQI, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A small government aircraft went missing while flying over northwestern China on Tuesday evening, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said a plane carrying three people had taken off from Korla Airport in Xinjiang at around 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday. It was expected to return by 8 p.m. local time, but contact with the aircraft was lost at 7.45 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

The jet, made by the Zhong Fei General Aviation Company, was carrying out a survey mission for the Ministry of Land and Resources when it went missing. Rescue helicopters were sent on Wednesday morning to search for the plane, but nothing had been found as of Wednesday evening.

It remains unclear if the plane crashed or made an emergency landing, but a spokesperson for the regional government said the plane would have quickly run out of fuel and would have been forced to land.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-30