Chinese authorities have conducted a search and rescue exercise simulating the ditching of a twin-engined aircraft in water off Shanghai.

The exercise, in the Yangtze estuary near Baoshan, included a full-sized mock-up of an aircraft resembling an Airbus A320, painted in the colours of fictional carrier Panocean Airline.

China's ministry of transport says the 26 September joint operation with the Shanghai municipal government involved 500 personnel and over 30 vessels and aircraft.

The scenario was based on the aircraft's transporting 140 passengers and 10 crew members, planning to land at the international airport but being forced to carry out an emergency ditching in the East China Sea.

During the exercise, emergency personnel carried out evacuation drills, rescue alert procedures, medical response and traffic control. The use of the full-scale aircraft model was designed to "improve the realism", says the transport ministry.

Chinese ditching mock up
Chinese ditching mock up

 Rex Features

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news