On June 3, 2006, a

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

KJ-200 The KJ-200 (Chinese: 空警-200; pinyin: Kōngjǐng Liǎngbǎi; literally: "aerial warning-200") NATO reporting name: Moth or Y-8 Balance Beam system, is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) program developed by Shaanxi Aircraft Corpo ...

crashed in

Guangde County Guangde is a county-level city in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Jiangsu to the north and Zhejiang to the east. It is the easternmost county-level division of Anhui and is under the jurisdic ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

Province, China.China speeds production of AEW&C aircraft
- ''Jane's'' - Obtained April 29, 2007. All 40 people on board were killed.

Background

The aircraft involved was a PRC-produced

Airborne Warning and Control System An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the ...

(AWACS) plane, one of four that were part of the country's efforts to expand its air defences. The exact model of aircraft involved was never officially identified, although it is believed to have been a

. The aircraft had been developed in 2002, and have been undergoing extensive tests since then.Chinese Crash An AWACS?
- Forecast International - Obtained April 29, 2007. The plane was carrying thirty-five electronics and avionics technicians, as well as five crewmembers. It is believed by aviation experts that the large number of people on board the aircraft indicated that some form of test was being conducted. Carrying such a large number of people allowed the plane to avoid transmitting real time data back to the ground, which could be compromised by foreign intelligence services.

Crash

While cruising at 28,000ft, the aircraft encountered

icing conditions In aeronautics, icing is the atmospheric icing, formation of water ice on an aircraft. Icing has resulted in numerous aviation accidents and incidents, fatal accidents in aviation history. Ice accretion and accumulation can affect the external s ...

, entered an uncontrolled descent, likely stalled and partially disintegrated while in the air before crashing into a hillside, killing all 40 people on board. It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the Chinese air force.

Investigation

The

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

announced of the investigation result on September 7, 2006. The official explanation was that the accident was due to heavy ice formation on the wings after the aircraft made repeated passes in and out of clouds in bad weather. The announcement also declared that nearly a dozen high-ranking military officers were punished, including: * Jiang Jianzeng, commander of the

Nanjing Military Region The Nanjing Military Region () was one of the former seven military command regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Its jurisdiction covered all military and armed police located in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Shangh ...

Air Force (MRAF) and deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region (MR), was censured.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples Liberation Army Air Force KJ-200 crash, 2006 Aviation accidents and incidents in 2006 Aviation accidents and incidents in China People's Liberation Army Air Force 2006 disasters in China Military history of Anhui June 2006 in China Xuancheng