China Southern Flight Diverted to Wuhan After Banging Heard in Cargo Hold

A China Southern Airlines (CZ) flight bound for Shenyang with 113 passengers and eight crew made an emergency landing Monday after the pilot and passengers reported hearing unusual banging from beneath the plane, a source familiar with the matter said via Sina Weibo.

Flight CZ3601, performed by an Airbus A320 aircraft (Registration B-9917), took off from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) at 8:20 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Shenyang Taoxian International Airport (SHE) at 11:45 a.m., according to Variflight, China's leading flight status service provider.

But the plane was diverted to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH) at 10:10 a.m., after the crew and passengers hearing unusual banging from the cargo hold, according to a Weibo post by @FATIII.

Passengers in the first-class cabin heard banging and noise, so they alerted crew right away.

The noise was coming from the pressurized and temperature-controlled cargo area, where animals are often kept during flights. But it wasn't an animal making the noise after inspection upon landing.

The incident is under investigation. The flight CZ3601 is expected to land in Shenyang airport at 1:04 p.m. with an one-hour delay.