He Chao, an aircraft commander from China Eastern Airlines, was awarded 3 million yuan ($443,136) for preventing two planes from crashing on the runway of Hongqiao International Airport, eastday.com reported. Crew members on the same plane with He were also awarded with honors and 600,000 yuan.
On October 11, an A320 started sliding on a runway as it tried to take off. Then, an A330 began sliding on the same runway toward the other plane. The A320 aircraft commander immediately forced the plane up. It was said that if the A320 had delayed even three seconds, the planes would have collided.
According to official statistics, there were 147 passengers on A320 when the incident happened, and 266 people on the A330.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China immediately formed an investigation and found that a tower employee on duty forgot the schedules of the two airplanes, which caused the near-accident.
