China’s C919 passes ‘deep level’ post-flight safety tests, ramps up rivalry with embattled Boeing

China’s first home-grown narrowbody passenger jet has passed a battery of “deep level” safety tests as part of a step that is expected to help the C919 find overseas markets as its rival Boeing wrestles with a list of mechanical woes. China Eastern Airlines Technology, a subsidiary of the group that owns C919 operator China Eastern Airlines, concluded four days of “A-inspection” tests on Monday at a hangar in Shanghai, the Civil Aviation Administration said on Tuesday. The aircraft is required to undergo safety checks after either every four months, 700 flight hours or 500 flight cycles – meaning the operation of an engine from take-off to landing – depending on which threshold is reached first. A crew of more than 60 checked the aircraft – referred to as B-919A by China Eastern Airlines – and tested its engines, landing gear and all equipment in the cabin, according to the regulator. “The Chinese aircraft builder has a chance to compete with Boeing,” said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii. “The Chinese will offer a better price, and of course they will advertise their aircraft of similar quality as Boeing and capitalise on all the scandals that Boeing has run through in the last couple of years.” Chinese officials would also “be lobbying the powers that be” in developing countries to buy the aircraft, he added, with many governments in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia enjoying close commercial and economic ties with China.<br/>