Air crash victims' suit

The Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court began Tuesday to hear a lawsuit launched by family members of 32 victims of a deadly air crash in November 2004 against China Eastern Airlines, jet-maker Bombardier and jet engine-maker General Electric.

The Beijing court agreed to accept the case in 2009 and family members are seeking an average compensation of over 4 million yuan ($636,184).

The flight operated by China Eastern, en route from Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to Shanghai, plunged into a lake in Baotou shortly after takeoff. Fifty-three people onboard and two others on the ground were killed.

Calls delay flights

The two Air China flights that had been delayed after threatening calls, took off Tuesday night after going through safety checks, said the air carrier.

The flights, CA4111, from Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, to Beijing via Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and CA1578, flying from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, to Beijing, were threatened by an unidentified caller, the air carrier said.

Flight CA4111 was scheduled to take off from Lhasa at 4 pm while CA1578 would have left Nanchang at 6:05 pm.

The flight from Lhasa took off at 8:21 pm and the other left Nanchang at 9:09 pm.

Global Times