Tibet Airlines A319 suffered massive damage in runway excursion

Further details, including eyewitness accounts and images showing aircraft damage, have emerged following the Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 runway excursion at China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International airport. The aircraft’s entire left-side CFM International CFM56 is shown completedly ripped away from the wing, and the aircraft’s landing gear has collapsed. The forward part of the left-side fuselage is severly charred – social media footage had shown the left wing on fire as passengers escaped. In addition, the A319’s fuselage is cracked aft of the wing. The forward fuselage near the nosewheel is also stoved in. One video shows dozens of passengers exiting from the main left-side door as a blaze builds up under the aircraft’s port wing. Slides were deployed from the left-side emergency exit over the wing, as well as from the left-rear door. One image shows that the left-side over-wing emergency exit was opened, but apparently left in place. The left-side main door is also open, but it appears as if the slide was not deployed. The A319 (B-6425/MSN5157) was due to operate flight TV9833 to Nyingchi on the morning of 12 May when it aborted its take-off and veered off the runway before bursting into flames. Tibet Airlines says all 113 passengers and nine crew were evacuated safely, with close to 40 suffering minor injuries and needing medical attention. Investigations, led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, are ongoing. <br/>