Logistics company conceals dangerous and flammable goods for export by air leading to the burning of a cargo plane worth 2.3 billion yuan

On July 22, 2020, a Boeing 777 cargo aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines (hereinafter referred to as Ethiopian Airlines) on an international cargo flight was waiting to depart from Shanghai Pudong Airport after completing cargo loading in aircraft bay 306 with the doors closed when the crew of the cargo aircraft noticed a fire in the cargo hold with visible smoke and open flames in the main cargo hold, followed by the crew announcing the highest aircraft distress signal "MAYDAY" on the ground.

After nearly three hours of fighting, the Boeing 777F cargo plane number ET-ARH open fire before being extinguished, the relevant news in the day became the focus of major media attention.

On January 7, the investigation report of the aviation accident showed that the cause of the fire in the cargo hold of the cargo plane of Eze Air was not an electrical failure of the aircraft or a fire of cargo containing lithium batteries, as earlier speculated by the public opinion.

Officials determined that the most likely cause of the fire was the spontaneous combustion of chlorine dioxide disinfectant tablets loaded in the main cargo hold in a hot and humid environment, which directly led to the scrapping of the cargo plane with an average market price of about 2.3 billion RMB

On July 22, 2020, Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing B777-200LR all-cargo aircraft ET-ARH docked at the Pudong Airport, at slot 306, after performing a cargo flight from Brussels, Belgium to Pudong, Shanghai.

After completing unloading and loading and replacing five crew members during a short stopover, the aircraft is ready to perform the next leg of flight ET3739 from Shanghai Pudong to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, via Chongqing, which is expected to depart at 14:30 BST on the same day.

Because of the cargo loading, ET3739 flight finished loading and closing the cargo door only at about 15:00 that day, the aircraft was loaded with 69.3 tons of cargo gathered from all over the country, ready to be transported to Africa, South America and other places through this aircraft, the cargo did not appear abnormal in the loading process.

At 15:14:04 on the same day, the dangerous situation began to appear, and the ET3739 crew reported in English to the Pudong Airport release frequency that there was a fire in the main cargo hold of the aircraft and a fire fighting vehicle was needed.

ive minutes later at 15:19, the crew contacted ground control again and urged the fire truck to come as soon as possible. 15:21:32, the crew of ET3739 issued the highest level of civil aircraft distress call signal "MAYDAY" at Pudong Airport, stating that the aircraft was on fire and needed fire rescue. At 15:25, the firefighters of Pudong Airport sent a call for help.

At 15:25, Pudong Airport fire trucks arrived at aircraft position 306, but the firefighters reported that no smoke or open fire was found at the scene. The aircraft's left front boarding door and cargo door were then opened one after another, and the crew evacuated the aircraft one after another. 15:35 the main cargo compartment of the aircraft was on fire, and the fire trucks at the scene started to put out the fire.

Three hours later, at 18:14, the fire was brought under control.

After the fire was extinguished, the fire on the cargo plane of Air Essex was then transferred to the accident investigation stage.

The investigation report shows that the cargo containing chlorine dioxide was purchased and shipped by Xu from a place in Zhejiang Province, and the cargo was mainly used for epidemic prevention and disinfection, and was intended to be shipped to a country in South America by air after being purchased in China.

on June 22, 2020, the shipper, Xu, signed a contract with a domestic supplier for the purchase of chlorine dioxide disinfection machines and disinfection supplies containing chlorine dioxide, "Disinfection Shield," and then commissioned someone else to pay for the goods, agreeing that the ticket would be sent to the consignee by courier.

The air cargo statistics showed that there were 96 boxes of chlorine dioxide, including a total of 10,000 sachets of disinfectant powder and 100 bags of chlorine dioxide disinfectant tablets in mixed packages.

The cargo identification certificate provided by the owner from the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry showed that the nano-cleaning material (containing 1% chlorine dioxide adsorbed on nano-materials) was "unrestricted cargo" and that the nano-cleaning material (powder particles) was "dangerous goods". The danger is "oxidant (primary), corrosive (secondary)"?

Chlorine dioxide tablets used for epidemic prevention and disinfection, why would it catch fire and burn in the cargo hold of the aircraft again?

Investigators found that the meteorological data from Pudong Airport showed that the highest temperature in Shanghai on the day of the incident was over 34 degrees, and domestic air cargo stations commonly use open-air stacking methods, and experiments showed that the highest ambient temperature inside the cargo panels accumulated by the cargo could reach nearly 80 degrees, and the chlorine dioxide disinfection tablets found at the PR cargo panels at the point of fire had a risk of spontaneous combustion under high temperature and damp conditions.

Root simulation experiments conducted by investigators confirmed that under similar meteorological conditions as the day of the incident on July 22, 2020, the temperature inside the stack was much higher than the ambient temperature and condensation would occur on the inside of the film, while sufficient conditions were present for spontaneous combustion to occur because of unfavorable heat dissipation.

The investigation team judged that the most likely cause of this cargo aircraft ground fire was due to spontaneous combustion of the chlorine dioxide disinfectant tablets on board that started the fire.

The investigation revealed that during the consignment process, the cargo owner provided the consignor with the cargo name "Smart Spray, Chlorine Dioxide Disinfectant Shield, Chlorine Dioxide Disinfectant, Packaging Bag and Sealing Machine".

JETCO was aware that the ticket contained two identification certificates for the chemicals, which were concluded to be "unrestricted goods" and "dangerous goods".

After communicating with Wang Mou, the manager of the cargo owner, Jetcom decided to use only the sample name "Nano slow-release clean material (containing 1% chlorine dioxide adsorbed on nano-materials)", which was identified as "non-restricted goods", to carry out the subsequent commission business, and only declared The name of the goods is "nano-slow-release clean material (containing 1% chlorine dioxide adsorbed on nano-materials)", and

The actual dangerous goods disinfectant powder and chlorine dioxide disinfectant tablets contained in the goods were not declared truthfully, "the act is suspected of concealing the name of the goods, to non-dangerous goods name consignment of dangerous goods."

The investigation team further found that the largest possible spontaneous combustion of the relevant chlorine dioxide products in the incident two days before the entry security inspection, security personnel had been concerned about the goods have a suspected chemical granular substances, according to which also issued instructions to the unpackers, requiring verification of chemical transport documents.

The unpacking security personnel then checked the outer packaging markings and transport documents to confirm that the name of the goods and transport documents are consistent, after checking the markings, images, transport documents are consistent, the security personnel released the box of goods.

For the Pudong Airport cargo security work involved in violations, the investigation team checked the image of the cargo containing chlorine dioxide through the X-ray machine, the image shows that the relevant suspicious area and the nano-slow-release clean material "cargo conditions of transport appraisal" in the "sample appearance" column description of the granular match, the airport cargo security operations in line with the The operation of the airport cargo security inspection complies with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Security Inspection Workbook.

After complete and meticulous work, the investigation team determined that the most likely cause of the fire in the cargo hold of the Boeing 777 cargo plane was the spontaneous combustion of the chlorine dioxide disinfectant tablets loaded in the main cargo hold in a hot and humid environment, which caused the fire. There were no catastrophic consequences such as fuel tank explosion, aircraft disintegration and casualties.

For the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777 cargo plane damage compensation, the official has not yet disclosed the relevant information to the outside world.

It is reported that Ethiopian Airlines B777-200LR is a long-range model of Boeing 777-200, which was put into service in 2006 as the world's longest-range passenger aircraft, with a range of more than 17,500 kilometers and the ability to fly continuously for 18 hours.

According to the price of an order between Emirates and Boeing in recent years, the price of a single Boeing 777-200LR freighter is $340 million, or about RMB 2.3 billion.