Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

The Chinese airline industry suffered its second hull loss in as many months on Thursday when a Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 veered off the runway at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in southwest China and caught fire, forcing an emergency evacuation. None of the 113 passengers and nine crewmembers died in the incident, although Chinese authorities said several suffered injuries during the evacuation.

 


The accident came some six weeks after the crash of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 that killed all 132 people on board, prompting the airline to temporarily ground its fleet of the model and central government leaders to order a broad safety review across the Chinese aviation industry. The investigation into that disaster continues. &nbsp;

 


Bound for Nyingchi in Tibet, the Tibet Airlines A319 had traveled roughly halfway down the runway when the crew aborted the takeoff. Footage on social media shows flames coming from the forward-left section of the aircraft and thick black smoke apparently caused by the fire.

 


According to Chinese state-controlled media, the crash happened at 8:09 am local time. Operations at the airport have since fully resumed.

 


Airbus confirmed in a statement the incident involved a “lateral runway excursion” and that the company is in contact with the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA), which supports the investigation led by the Chinese CAAC under ICAO Annex 13 protocols.

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Tibet Airlines A319 Bursts into Flames after Runway Excursion

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