Airplane called back to pick up grieving mother

English>>China Society

Editor's Pick

Airplane called back to pick up grieving mother

By Li Qian (Shanghai Daily) 08:39, September 23, 2013

Email|Print|Comments

twitter

facebook

Sina Microblog

A CHINA Southern Airlines flight returned from the runway just prior to take-off at Hangzhou’s airport recently to pick up a woman who had just learned her daughter had been killed in a car crash, a report said yesterday.

Chen Jing was on a business trip in Hangzhou on September 15 when she was told her daughter had died in a car crash in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, Qianjiang Evening News, a Hangzhou-based newspaper, reported yesterday.

Chen purchased a ticket for flight CZ6490, the last one to Changsha that day, but missed it by five minutes.

Li Huimin, chief of China Southern’s Hangzhou branch, saw her wailing in the passenger lounge and called the plane back despite the expense, the report said.

Chen has since written to China Southern to thank the carrier and its staff for their compassion and help, according to the report.

“I was in extreme despair at that time,” Chen told the newspaper. “But the officials on duty promised to help me and told me to prepare for check-in. I didn’t know what to say.”

The report didn’t say how much it cost the airline to call the plane back. But it did say a flight from Hangzhou to Changsha requires 6 tons of fuel and a large amount is used as the plane taxis on the runway.

Li said he needed authorization from officials in seven departments and the runway had to be clear before the plane could be called back.

“I was just trying to communicate with the crew at first, hoping they could persuade the passengers,” Li was quoted as saying.

None of the 133 passengers on board complained about returning to pick up Chen and flight CZ6490 left Hangzhou about an hour later than originally scheduled.

Once the story was published, some netizens were quick to praise the airline.

One person posted on Weibo: “It was not for a privileged or noble figure — just for a mother. Today’s society really needs such positive energy.”