China's state-run Sichuan Airlines has suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days, causing major disruption to private traders' efforts to procure the much-needed oxygen concentrators and other medical supplies from Beijing.

China's airline suspends cargo flights with COVID-19 supplies to India

China's state-run Sichuan Airlines has suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days, causing major disruption to private traders' efforts to procure the much-needed&nbsp;oxygen&nbsp;concentrators and other medical supplies from&nbsp;China&nbsp;despite Beijing offering "support and assistance" to the country to deal with the latest surge of COVID-19 cases.

In a letter to the sales agents on Monday, the Sichuan Chuanhang Logistics Co. Ltd, the company which is part of the Sichuan Airlines said the airline has suspended its cargo flights on six routes, including Xian to Delhi, amid hectic efforts by private traders from both sides to procure&nbsp;oxygen&nbsp;concentrators from&nbsp;China.

<iframe allow="conversion-measurement 'src'" data-google-container-id="4" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/6516239/outofpage_1x1_desktop_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/6516239/outofpage_1x1_desktop_0" scrolling="no" srcdoc="" title="3rd party ad content" width="1"></iframe>In the letter seen by PTI, the company said in the face of sudden changes in the epidemic situation (in India), in order to reduce the number of imported cases, it is decided to suspend the flights for the next 15 days.

Indian route has always been the core strategic route for Sichuan Airlines. This suspension has also caused great losses to our company. We are very sorry for the unchanged situation, the letter said and sought the "understanding of its sales agents, it said. The letter also said the company will review the situation after 15 days.

The suspension of cargo flights came as a surprise to agents and freight forwarders who are frantically trying to procure the&nbsp;oxygen&nbsp;concentrators from&nbsp;China.

There are also complaints of Chinese manufacturers jacking up the prices by 35 to 40 per cent. The freight charges have been increased to over 20 per cent, Siddharth Sinha of Sino Global Logistics, a Shanghai-based freight forwarding company.

He told PTI here that the Sichuan Airlines decision to cancel flights has caused severe disruption to attempts by private traders in both the countries to secure quick supplies of the Oxygen concentrators to rush to India in view of the dire situation.

Now it becomes very challenging to rush the supplies as they have to be rerouted through Singapore and other countries through different airlines, which delays the much-needed supplies, he said.

The suspension of the flights owing to the&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;situation in India is surprising as there is no crew change in India and the same crew flies the aircraft back, he said.

India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

The Chinese cargo flights besides the shipping services have been operational throughout the pandemic rushing supplies of lucrative mobile phone equipment as well as a lot of other Chinese exports to India.

Sinha also said the Chinese suppliers also resorted to inhuman practice of heavy jacking up of prices to cash in on the pandemic emergency.

The suspension of flights also came as a surprise to the Indian officials here as it came in the backdrop of official statements offering support and assistance to India.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian told a media briefing on April 23 that China is in communication with India to provide necessary support and assistance. China expresses sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently," he said.

The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the&nbsp;coronavirus.&nbsp;China is ready to provide support and help according to India's need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this, he said.

We believe that the Indian people will defeat the virus at an early date, he said.

India's total tally of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,73,13,163 while active cases have crossed the 28-lakh mark. The death toll increased to 1,95,123 with a record 2,812 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

China's state-run Sichuan Airlines has suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days, causing major disruption to private traders' efforts to procure the much-needed oxygen concentrators and other medical supplies from China despite Beijing offering "support and assistance" to the country to deal with the latest surge of COVID-19 cases.

China's state-run Sichuan Airlines has suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days, causing major disruption to private traders' efforts to procure the much-needed oxygen concentrators and other medical supplies from China despite Beijing offering "support and assistance" to the country to deal with the latest surge of COVID-19 cases. In a letter to the sales agents on Monday, the Sichuan Chuanhang Logistics Co. Ltd, the company which is part of the Sichuan Airlines said the airline has suspended its cargo flights on six routes, including Xian to Delhi, amid hectic efforts by private traders from both sides to procure oxygen concentrators from China. In the letter seen by PTI, the company said in the face of sudden changes in the epidemic situation (in India), in order to reduce the number of imported cases, it is decided to suspend the flights for the next 15 days. Indian route has always been the core strategic route for Sichuan Airlines. This suspension has also caused great losses to our company. We are very sorry for the unchanged situation, the letter said and sought the "understanding of its sales agents, it said. The letter also said the company will review the situation after 15 days. The suspension of cargo flights came as a surprise to agents and freight forwarders who are frantically trying to procure the oxygen concentrators from China. There are also complaints of Chinese manufacturers jacking up the prices by 35 to 40 per cent. The freight charges have been increased to over 20 per cent, Siddharth Sinha of Sino Global Logistics, a Shanghai-based freight forwarding company. He told PTI here that the Sichuan Airlines decision to cancel flights has caused severe disruption to attempts by private traders in both the countries to secure quick supplies of the Oxygen concentrators to rush to India in view of the dire situation. Now it becomes very challenging to rush the supplies as they have to be rerouted through Singapore and other countries through different airlines, which delays the much-needed supplies, he said. The suspension of the flights owing to the coronavirus situation in India is surprising as there is no crew change in India and the same crew flies the aircraft back, he said. India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds. The Chinese cargo flights besides the shipping services have been operational throughout the pandemic rushing supplies of lucrative mobile phone equipment as well as a lot of other Chinese exports to India. Sinha also said the Chinese suppliers also resorted to inhuman practice of heavy jacking up of prices to cash in on the pandemic emergency. The suspension of flights also came as a surprise to the Indian officials here as it came in the backdrop of official statements offering support and assistance to India. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian told a media briefing on April 23 that China is in communication with India to provide necessary support and assistance. China expresses sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently," he said. The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the coronavirus. China is ready to provide support and help according to India's need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this, he said. We believe that the Indian people will defeat the virus at an early date, he said. India's total tally of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,73,13,163 while active cases have crossed the 28-lakh mark. The death toll increased to 1,95,123 with a record 2,812 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

China's airline suspends cargo flights bringing medical supplies to India

The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, local media reported citing the aircraft's captain.

Captain Liu Chuanjian, hailed as a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone.

"There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang.

The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window," he was quoted as saying.

"Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned ... and I couldn't hear the radio.

The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges," he said.

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in.

He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, adding that one other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent.

None of the plane's 119 passengers were injured.

An investigation into how the incident occurred is underway.

The flight, Sichuan Airlines 3U8633, left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday morning and was bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It made its emergency landing in the southwest city of Chengdu.

"The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake. We didn't know what was going on and we panicked. Then the oxygen masks dropped... We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again," an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service.

"I'm still nervous. I don't dare to take an airplane anymore. But I'm also happy I had a narrow escape."

The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane took off at 6.25 a.m. local time (1025 GMT), the Chengdu Economic Daily said.

A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to occurrences such as bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet.

He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone

The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, local media reported citing the aircraft's captain. Captain Liu Chuanjian, hailed as a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit. The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone. "There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window," he was quoted as saying. "Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned ... and I couldn't hear the radio. The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges," he said. The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in. He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, adding that one other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent. None of the plane's 119 passengers were injured. An investigation into how the incident occurred is underway. The flight, Sichuan Airlines 3U8633, left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday morning and was bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It made its emergency landing in the southwest city of Chengdu. "The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake. We didn't know what was going on and we panicked. Then the oxygen masks dropped... We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again," an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service. "I'm still nervous. I don't dare to take an airplane anymore. But I'm also happy I had a narrow escape." The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane took off at 6.25 a.m. local time (1025 GMT), the Chengdu Economic Daily said. A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011. Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to occurrences such as bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare. In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet. He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet.

Sichuan Airlines pilot was 'sucked halfway' out of window, says captain

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China's airline suspends cargo flights with COVID-19 supplies to India

China's airline suspends cargo flights bringing medical supplies to India

Sichuan Airlines pilot was 'sucked halfway' out of window, says captain