Civil Aviation Administration of China
Encyclopedia : C : CI : CIV : Civil Aviation Administration of China
The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (中国民用航空总局, Pinyin: Zhōngguó Mínyòng Hángkōng Zǒngjú), most widely recognized by the initials CAAC, is an administrative body under the State Council of the People's Republic of China that oversees civil aviation in mainland China.
The CAAC does not share responsibility of managing mainland China's airspace with the Central Military Commission under the regulations in the Civil Aviation Law of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国民用航空法). Being subordinate to military traffic, non-commercial civil aviation is rather restricted. General and private aviation in mainland China is relatively unknown. There are fewer than 50 business jets in use and very few privately owned airplanes while the United States has more than 25,000 registered business aircraft and more than 140,000 privately owned.
Early history
CAAC was formed on November 2, 1949, shortly after the communist revolution in China, to manage all non-military aviation in the country (similar to Aeroflot in the Soviet Union). It was initially managed by the People's Liberation Army Air Force, but was transferred to the direct control of the State Council in 1962.
CAAC as an airline
CAAC emerged as an international airline operator following a 1980 instruction by Deng Xiaoping to begin planning for civil flights. On March 5, CAAC formed an airline operation division with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Lanzhou (later moved to Xi'an) and Shenyang.
In 1987, the aviation regulation division and the airline operation division were separated, and the airline division further divided into Air China (which inherited the IATA and ICAO code of the original CAAC), China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Northwest Airlines, China Northern Airlines and China Southwest Airlines, each named after the geographic region of the location of their headquarters and main operation areas.
CAAC used the IATA code CA on international flights only; domestic flights were not prefixed with the airline code.
Fleet
CAAC's airline fleet included:
Major incidents
- On April 26, 1982, a CAAC Trident 2E crashed into a mountain while on approach to Guilin, killing all 112 people on board.
- On December 24, 1982, a CAAC Il-18B burst into flames while on approach to Guangzhou, killing 25 of the 69 passengers on board.
- On May 5, 1983, a CAAC aircraft was hijacked and landed at a U.S. military base in South Korea. The incident marked the first direct negotiations between South Korea and China, which did not have formal relations at the time.
- On September 14, 1983, a CAAC Trident 2E collided with a fighter jet on takeoff from Guilin. 11 on board were killed.
- On January 18, 1985, a CAAC An-24 crashed on approach to Jinan, killing 38 of the 41 on board.
- On December 15, 1986, a CAAC An-24 crashed on approach to Lanzhou, killing 6 of the 37 on board.
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