What happened
At approximately 14:45 local time, an aircraft departed from Lanzhou, bound for Xi'an. The flight was carrying a total of 35 people, consisting of 28 passengers and a crew of seven. Roughly 45 minutes after takeoff, the flight crew notified air traffic control that the left engine had failed. Following this notification, the aircraft was granted permission to perform an emergency return to Lanzhou.
During the attempt to return to the departure airport, the aircraft was unable to sustain a safe flying altitude. The plane subsequently collided with hilly terrain in the vicinity of Dingxi, located approximately 72 km southeast of Lanzhou. The impact resulted in 14 fatalities and left 21 injuries among those on board.
Findings
- The primary factor leading to the crash was the failure of the left engine during the flight phase.