UNCLASSSIFIED PAGE: 0005 INQUIRE=DOC20D ITEM NO=00101927 ENVELOPE CDSN = LGX883 MCN = 92339/10161 TOR = 923390600 RTTUZYUW RUESDGA1606 3390539-UUAA--RUEALGX ZNR UUUAA ZYN HEADER R 0405372 DEC 92 FM FBIS XXXXXXX TO AIG 4581 RUCWAAA/FBIS RESTON VA//POLCH// RUEHBF/AMEMBASSY BEIJING RUESDJ/FBIS OKINAWA JA ACCT FBHK-EWDK BT CONTROLS UNCLAS 1K WARNING: NOTE GRAF FOUR CLAIM THAT "THE TWO DAYS BEFORE THE DISASTER, THE PILOTS CLEARLY WROTE ON THE FLIGHT LOG BOOK THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE PLANE." SERIAL: HK0412053792 BODY PASS: COPY TO AD COUNTRY: PRC SUBJ: COPILOT'S BROTHER SPEAKS ON GUILIN AIR DISASTER SOURCE: HONG KONG TA KUNG POA IN CHINESE 3 DEC 92 P 6 TEXT: //(("SPECIAL DISPATCH" FROM GUANGZHOU ON 2 DECEMBER BY STAFF REPORTER: "REFLECTION ON THE AIR DISASTER--INTERVIEWING WEN WENXIANG, YOUNGER BROTHER OF COPILOT OF GUILIN CRASHED PLANE")) ((TEXT)) HE SUSPENDED HIS TEACHING JOB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IN THE UNITED STATES AND WENT TO GUILIN WHERE THE DISASTER OCCURRED. AFTER RETURNING FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRASH WHERE A MEMORIAL CEREMONY HAD BEEN HELD FOR HIS BROTHER, HE SAT BEFORE THIS STAFF REPORTER, LOOKING HEAVY-HEARTED AND DEPRESSED. HE TALKED ABOUT THE QUESTIONABLE POINTS, ABOUT THE LESSON, AND ABOUT HIS FEELINGS.... HE IS WANG WENXIANG, BROTHER OF WANG WENHUA, THE COPILOT OF THE 24 NOVEMBER AIR CRASH. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE PLANE? ((SUBHEAD)) WANG WENXIANG QUIETLY OPENED THE CERTIFICATE, WHICH WAS AWARDED TO HIS DECEASED BROTHER BY THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY. IT READS: NAME: WANG WENHUA; HOME: JIANGSU; DATE OF BIRTH: SEPTEMBER 1951; PROFESSION: FIRST PILOT. REMARKSl HE WAS AWARDED WITH THE SECOND- UNCLASSSIFIED Approved for Release Date ____AUG__1997___ -------------------------------------------------------------------- UNCLASSSIFIED PAGE: 0006 CLASS SAFE PILOT MEDAL, AND AS OF THE END OF 1991, HE SAFELY FLEW FOR A TOTAL OF 8,019 HOURS. THIS CERTIFICATE IS SIMILAR TO NEWSPAPER REPORTS ABOUT FLIGHT CAPTAIN ZHOU JINAN IN THAT THEY WERE BOTH VERY EXPERIENCED, POSSESSED EXCELLENT EXPERISE, AND WERE IN GOOD SHAPE. MOREOVER, WANG WENXIANG QUOTED THE RELEVANT PERSONNEL OF THE GUANGZHOU AVIATION AUTHORITY AS SAYING THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE THAT THE ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY THE POLOTS' ACTIONS AND THAT IT WAS A VERY SPECIAL ACCIDENT. THEREFORE, HE COULD NOT HELP ASKING: WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE AIR DISASTER, ONE OF THE MOST DISASTROUS ONES IN WORLD AVIATION HISTORY? HE TOLD THIS REPORTER, WITHOUT CENCEALING HIS FEELINGS, THAT FROM HIS INQUIRIES AT VARIOUS QUARTERS OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS, HE HAS LEARNED THAT ON 22 AND 23 NOVEMBER, THE TWO DAYS BEFORE THE DISASTER, THE PILOTS CLEARLY WROTE ON THE FLIGHT LOG BOOK THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE PLANE. wANG WENXIANG STRESSED THAT HE WAS NOT AN AVIATION EXPERT AND SAID THAT ALL SPECULATIONS WERE GUESSWORK BEFORE AN AFFIRMATIVE EXPLANATION OF THE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER COULD BE DERIVED FROM THE BLACK BOX. WANG SAYS, HOWEVER, THAT IF THE BLACK BOX'S DATA PROVE THAT THE FAULT WAS IN THE PLANE, AND IF THE CAUSE TALLIES WITH THE PROBLEM RECORDED ON THE FLIGHT LOG, HE HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE AIRLINE HAD NEGLECTED ELIMINATING THE FAULTS AND MAINTAINING THE PLANE, OR THAT THE AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER HAD NEGLECTED IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING THE SHAPE OF THE PLANE OR IN ASSEMBLING IT. DRAW A LESSON FROM IT AND ARRANGE FOR RIGOROUS MANAGEMENT ((SUBHEAD)) ALTHOUGH THE BLACK BOX HAS BEEN FOUND, THE CAUSE OF THE 24 NOVEMBER AIR DISASTER IS STILL PUZZLING. SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT IN EARLY NOVEMBER, UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS ONCE FLEW OVER THE SCENE WHERE THE DISASTER OCCURRED. AT THAT TIME, LOCAL PAPERS GAVE SPECIAL COVERAGE OF THE INCIDENT. WAS THE DISASTER RELATED TO THE UFO'S? WANG WENXIANG SAID HE DID NOT BELIEVE IT. HE DID NOT READ THOSE REPORTS BUT ONLY HEAD OF THEM. HE SAID HE ALSO HEARD MANY REPORTS ABOUT UFO'S IN THE UNITED STATES BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT SCIENTIFIC PROOF. THEREFORE, HE SAID IT WAS NOT REALISTIC TO CONNECT THE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER WITH THE UFO'S. DOES HE DOUBT THE ADVANCED DESIGN OF THE PLANE? WANG WENXIANG ADMITTED THAT THE CHINA NATIONAL AVIATION CORPORATION ((CAAC)) NOW PURCHASES PLANES WITH BETTER QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE THAT ANYTIME IN THE PAST. SINCE CHINA'S REFORM AND OPENING UP, THE CAAC HAS BEEN GRADUALLY DEVELOPING IN THE DIRECTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE ANF HAS NOT HARBORED ANY MISGIVINGS WITH REGARD TO IMPORTING NEW TYPOS AND MODELS OF PLANES. HOWEVER, HE MAINTAINED THAT WHILE IMPORTING ADVANCED AIRPLANES, CAAC MUST ESTABLISH A COMPLETE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND THAT EQUIPMENT FOR PLANE MAINTENANCE AND TECHNICAL PERSONNEL MUST CATCH UP. LOOK INTO THE CAUSE THOROUGHLY TO AVOID RECURRENCE ((SUBHEAD)) UNCLASSSIFIED ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UNCLASSSIFIED PAGE: 0007 LIKE FAMILY MEMBERS OF MOST OTHER VICTIMS, WANG WENXIANG, SAD FROM THE BERAVEMENT OF HIS BROTHER, SAID CALMLY: NOW THAT THE DISASTER HAS OCCURRED AND THE DECEASED CANNOT COME BACK TO LIFE, WE ONLY HOPE THE AIRLINE WILL SERIOUSLY AND STRICTLY LOOK INTO THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE DISASTER AND THAT RELEVANT QUARTERS, INCLUDING THE AIRLINE AND THE AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER, WILL DRAW A LESSON FROM THE DISASTER IN ORDER TO AVOID THE RECURRENCE OF THIS KIND OF VICIOUS DISASTER. HE ALSO MADE A VEILED CRITICISM OF THE TIMELINESS AND TRANSPARENCE OF THE MEDIA'S REPORTS AFTER THE DISASTER OCCURRED. HE SAID THAT SINCE CHINA PURSUES REFORM AND OPENING UP IN VARIOUS ASPECTS, INCLUDING NEWS REPORTING, IT SHOUD, WITH AN ATTITUDE OF REFORM, REPORT THE SITUATION TRUTHFULLY AND QUICKLY. CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES IN AN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE AND FLIES MANY INTERNATIONAL AIR ROUTES. MOREOVER, IT IS OPENING UP THE BROAD INTERNATIONAL MARKET. THEREFORE, AS A FAMILY MEMBER OF THE DISASTER VICTIM, HE HOPED RELEVANT AUTHORITIES WOULDM PROCEEDING FROM INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE AND FROM THE ANGLE OF THE DEVELOPEMENT PROSPECTS OF THE AIRLINE ITSELF, APPROPRIATELY HANDLE THE QUESTION OF CONSOLING FAMILY MEMBERS OF DISASTER VICTIMS AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE MASS MEDIA. ADMIN (ENDALL) 3 DE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 50412.03E 04/05412 DEC BT #1606 NNNN
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