Saturday, August 17, 2002

Airliner overshoots runway

REUTERS

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A Chinese Boeing-737 jet ran off the end of the runway when it landed at Lijiang airport yesterday.

The accident occurred as thousands of music fans headed to Lijiang for the rock festival this weekend. The jet was thought to be carrying people bound for the festival.

There were no reports of casualties after China Southwest Airlines flight SZ 4451, carrying 118 passengers from Kunming, overran the tarmac. An airline official blamed technical problems.

Two fatal air crashes this year have rekindled concerns about the safety of Chinese airlines.