Landing scare grounds homemade planes

C919 delays

The maiden test flight of COMAC's C919 - the first Chinese-made large passenger aircraft - has been delayed by a year, until 2015, and the first delivery be not be made 2017, a year later than scheduled. The company has received orders of around 400 from domestic and overseas buyers.

A lack of experience in the manufacture of commercial aircraft is one of the main reasons for the delay, the manager explained.

"Because of our comparatively weak foundation in aviation technology, we have no choice but to take more time," he said. "But at least that will ensure safety."

Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine, acknowledged the problems faced by China's aircraft manufacturers.

"Every aircraft maker faces the same dilemma after it puts a new product on the market," he said. "Large airlines are reluctant to use new aircraft because they know that doing so will bring potential risks generated by the aircraft, while small carriers, although more likely to use new-type aircraft out of the consideration of cost savings, lack skilled professionals and sufficient operational and maintenance experience, and are thus are more prone to accidents."

"This is exactly the problem the MA-60 is facing," he added. "Chinese manufacturers must figure out a feasible way of selling their planes to large airlines, establish their brands and make profits - but that can only happen if it's based on a good safety record."

The operations of 11 MA-60s owned by Okay Airways and eight owned by Joy Air, a budget airline based in Xi'an, have not been interrupted by Tuesday's incident. However, if the aircraft were grounded, Okay would be affected significantly because half of its 22 passenger jets are MA-60s.

Pang said Xi'an-based company has more than 200 orders for MA-60s.

The MA-60 is a turboprop-powered plane developed and made by Xi'an Aircraft Industry, and is based on the company's own Y-7 transport aircraft. The company has also developed its variant of the MA-60, called the MA-600.

By the end of 2013, 88 MA-60s or MA-600s had been delivered to 24 buyers from 16 nations in Asia, South America and Africa, according to Pang Zhen, head of civil aircraft development at Aviation Industry Corp of China, the parent company of Xi'an Aircraft Industry.

The rising price of aviation fuel has put airlines under heavy financial pressure, making turboprops, which consume less fuel compared with turbofan jets, more attractive to airline procurement managers, according to Pang, who said the global aviation market will need at least 2,900 turboprop regional airliners within the next 20 years, and that China will need around 350 of them.

Xinhua contributed to the story.