China United Airlines, pilots sanctioned over fight in cockpit

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has penalized both China United Airlines and two pilots who reportedly started a fight in the cockpit.

The CAAC has imposed a 10% reduction on the airline’s existing route time, and in addition has restricted it from opening up any new flight routings, either scheduled or charter. The regulatory agency also banned the two pilots from flying for six months, and said the incident was “one of a series of contraventions” that China United had seen that resulted in flight bans on both the pilots and the airline.

Beijing-based China United Airlines is a low-cost carrier,which is an offshoot of full-service China Eastern Airlines,and operates a fleet of 30 Boeing 737 aircraft to mainly tier-two cities out of Beijing’s regional airport, Nanyuan.

CAAC said the carrier had recorded “seriously violated regulations” over the last two months, with one of its aircraft recently certified as not suitable to fly by pre-flight inspectors.

In another recent incident, one of China United's flights was recorded as flying “below a minimum safe altitude,” according to another report.