China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303
Tupolev Tu-154M · In-flight break up due to improper maintenance
From Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), China
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 160 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 160
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Tupolev Tu-154M
- Flight
- WH2303
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-154
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- B-2610
- Operator
- China Northwest Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 160
- Route
- From Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)To Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), China
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 was a domestic flight from Xi'an to Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. On June 6, 1994, the aircraft operating the flight, a Tupolev Tu-154M, broke up in-flight and crashed as a result of an autopilot malfunction which caused violent shaking and overstressed the airframe. All 160 people on board were killed. As of 2026, it remains the deadliest airplane crash ever in mainland China.
Accident
The aircraft took off from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport at 8:13 on June 6, 1994. At the time, it was raining, but this did not cause a delay in departure.
Twenty-four seconds after take-off, the crew reported that the aircraft was "floating" and making an abnormal sound, but were still able to maintain a speed of 400 km/h. Three minutes after take-off, the plane flew over Xi'an City and turned southeast. The crew then reported an unstable pitch-up to 20° and 30° at 8:16:24 and 8:16:58, respectively.
At 8:17:06, while over Mingdu Township, Chang'an County, Shaanxi, the aircraft became unable to maintain its assigned altitude. The crew then temporarily engaged the autopilot, which unexpectedly caused the aircraft to turn right. At 8:22:27, with the aircraft travelling at 373 km/h, the stall warning activated. The aircraft then banked dangerously to the left, and dropped from 4,717 m to 2,884 m in 12 seconds, at a speed of 747 km/h.
At 8:22:42, the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air above the suburb of Tsuitou Village, Mingyu Township. All 146 passengers and 14 crew died, most on impact. Wreckage landed to the southeast of the airport, scattered over 18 mi of farmland.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Poor maintenance was the probable cause of the accident. The previous evening, the autopilot yaw-channel had been erroneously connected to the bank control, and the bank-channel to the yaw controls, while undergoing maintenance at an unapproved facility. After takeoff, the faulty damper immediately caused the plane to experience violent roll oscillations, overstressing the airframe beyond its structural limits. This led to its break up in mid-air.
Text from the Wikipedia article “China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303” (revision 1363176921, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303
- Revision
- 1363176921 · 2026-07-08 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q5099830
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303" (page 20841013, revision 1363176921)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.