1931 Jinan air crash

The Stinson Detroiter got airborne around 8:00 am local time. It cruised over the path of the Jing Pu Railway, which directed the flight to Beiping. The weather was fine during the first part of the flight. The plane landed at Xu Zhou Airport for refueling near 10:00 am, and took off again 10 minutes later. This time first officer Liang was at the controls, as Captain Wang handed the flight over and moved to the passenger's seat. It then flew into Jinan airspace. The aircraft encountered severe fog and began flying off course. The pilot lost the railway in his sight, so he kept on heading for the nearest Wujiapu Airport, which would help him go back on course again. However, the plane started to descend. After the plane passed the waypoint Kaishan County, the pilot headed to the northwest for the target airport. Seconds later, the aircraft hit the peak of what is now called West Mountain below the summit, about six kilometers from Dangjiazhuang Railway Station, and broke off its right wing. This put the plane into a rapidly descending spiral, despite the fuselage remaining relatively intact in mid-air. The Detroiter crashed into the valley below and disintegrated, resulting in a series of fire and explosions, killing two of the three on board instantly.

Crash site

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"Exact locations of each landmarks near the crash site; the blue pin points the exact location of where the plane crashed."

The exact location of where the Stinson Detroiter crashed was controversial. The Government of the Republic of China claimed that the aircraft crashed into Mount Beida, where they set a tomb to commemorate Xu. Popular descriptions of the crash site include West Mountain, East Mountain, North Mountain (later research showed that the three names were for the same mountain), Mount Kai, and Mount Baima.

In 2013, investigators deduced the final location of the wreckage according to the documents in the archive.[6] With the help of a modern electronic rangefinder, they followed Jing Pu Railway from Dangjiazhuang Station six kilometers north to a village called Chaomidian, which is north of the crash site. Ranging 1 kilometer from the village, the investigator found the valley, which was identical to eyewitnesses' description.

The investigation established that the crash site of the Stinson Detroiter was at West Mountain, which is in the east of Kaishan County in southwest Jinan and one kilometer from the railway, at an elevation of 150 meters.

A patrol police witnessed the crash of the Detroiter. He immediately rushed to the scene along with some local residents. Meanwhile, Xu's friend, Liang Sicheng, was told to pick Xu up at Nanyuan Airport at around 3:00 pm. He never saw Xu arrive. Liang foreboded that Xu might have crashed and called local police at around 4:30 pm.

When the rescuers found the wreckage, they discovered the bodies of the passenger and captain, with debris engulfed in flames. Xu, though not seriously burnt, had suffered from fatal cerebral trauma as well as fractured legs and several cuts on his body.[7][8] Another friend of Xu, Yu Gengyu (Chinese: 于赓虞), described his corpse afterward as:

On his slightly swelled face were some white and red scars, probably because of the rinse on his face after he was found. The two eyes were not completely closed and opened a little, as if he was staring obsessively at someone. Through the glass (of the coffin), the body looked no difference from alive ...

Next to Xu, carbonic remains of captain Wang's body was also found, scarcely recognizable. Rescuers also discovered first officer Liang, who lay a meter from the two corpses. He had received burns all over his body, yet remained conscious. Liang was rushed to the hospital, but he died en route. The other two on board were considered to have died at the scene of the crash, probably killed instantly.

The three bodies were later carried back to Jinan, and Xu's was eventually buried at Mount Beida, which local government had mistaken as the crash site.

The first thing investigators identified was a piece of the aircraft's right wing few meters from the mountain peak. That was the first part that came off. This chilled them, as in the same year, a Fokker F-10 had crashed in Kansas in the United States due to a structural failure of the aircraft's wing. Investigators suspected that this crash might be a similar case. But after scrutinizing the debris carefully, the theory was ruled out.

Because at that time there were no black boxes, the investigators could only search for clues either at the crash scene or by recreating the crash according to the eyewitnesses' accounts. Witnesses reported that the plane was flying dangerously lower than usual and was circling in the air seconds from the crash, which indicated to investigators that the pilots might have had difficulty finding their route.

Investigators also noted that there were two pilots commanding the Detroiter, whose cockpit is designed only for one pilot. They inferred that the first officer was in control at the time of the accident due to the positions of the bodies at the crash scene.

Based on the evidence, they hypothesized that the pilot descended the aircraft beneath the minimum safety altitude while attempting to seek their target, Wujiapu airport. Visibility was bad when the plane flew into the fog, and the crews could only use compass heading to navigate. After the plane flew via Dangjiazhuang Railway Station, the first officer gradually lost sight of the railway due to poor visibility. The first officer could look for the airport lights only visually, and failed to recognize the terrain. Runway lights were blocked by the mountains surrounding Jinan. But instead, the pilot in control considered that it was simply caused by thick fog and misjudged the situation. Thus, he continued descending until the plane flew too close to the mountain. There were no ground proximity warning systems on aircraft at that time, so when the terrain abruptly appeared in front of the windshields, it was too late for the pilot to divert the plane.

The investigators also concluded that lack of conversation between both pilots also played a major factor of the crash. They believe that the accident could have been avoided if the captain, sitting in the passenger's seat, had reminded the pilot at control that the flight was dangerously close to the terrain.

Another theory suggested that both the pilots were disoriented and failed to notice the plane was descending slowly. Therefore, the pilot could not know his exact altitude, which led to the crash.

The investigation of the Jinan air crash also revealed deficiencies in early aviation regulations. The crew should have canceled the plan due to the possibility of severe meteorologic conditions.

The literary community in China went into mourning when they heard of the Xu's death. Overwhelmed by sadness, Lin Huiyin collected a piece of wreckage from the crash scene. She preserved it at her bedside in memory of Xu throughout the rest of her life.[11]

Xu's memorial park was built in 1932, a year after the crash.

view from the side

view from front

the tomb

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