A 200-tonne aircraft carrying passengers crashed into a jet bridge as it arrived at a terminal. The China Eastern Airlines Airbus A350-900 was taxiing to its stand when its wings struck a double boarding bridge, destroying the structure and causing damage to the aircraft.
The flight from Chengdu in Sichuan province had just landed at Shanghai Hongqiao airport when it experienced a mechanical failure before arriving at the gate. No passengers or staff were reported injured during the incident on Saturday morning.
One person onboard the flight wrote on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo: ‘Very scared, I can’t get off the plane now.’ Passengers were eventually disembarked via the other side of the plane after a 30-minute delay, which is usually reserved for loading cargo, catering and other goods.
According to Global Times, all passengers received 400 yuan (around £43) in compensation. The incident occurred on the second day of the May Labour Day ‘Golden week’ – one of three annual holiday periods in China when travel is highly popular. Authorities estimated that around 1.52 billion people would be travelling during the five-day holiday, including 11 million flight passengers.
China Eastern Airlines is one of China’s three major carriers, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines. It carried more than 140 million passengers on its fleet of 680 aircraft in 2024.
China Eastern Airlines said in a statement: ‘After landing and taxiing slowly towards its gate, a flight from Chengdu to Shanghai experienced a mechanical failure. The crew immediately followed procedures, resulting in a minor collision between the aircraft and the jet bridge. All passengers are safe and have disembarked safely. The specific cause of the incident is under investigation. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to passengers.’
