Airport security is under the spotlight again following the death of a boy after he fell out of the wheel well of a passenger jet in northwest China on Wednesday morning.

The accident once more reveals serious inadequacies in airport security, said Zhang Guanghui, director of the Airport Department of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (GACAC).
 
"The tragedy should not have happened as airports are obliged to be managed on a close-end basis," Zhang said yesterday.

A boy around 10 years old stowed away on a China Eastern Airlines flight and fell on to the tarmac at the Dunhuang Airport shortly after the plane took off at 7:50 AM.

The boy, whose name has not been released but who has been identified as a resident of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, died at the scene. His body was sent to a local hospital.

The boy was thought to have sneaked into the landing gear compartment of the Airbus A320 by crossing the fences on Tuesday night without being noticed by security staff, said an airport official named Xing.

"Investigations jointly launched by the airport and the GACAC's Northwestern Bureau are ongoing," Xing said.

Local police are trying to confirm the boy's identity, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

"Some aviation companies are found to neglect security management while devoting their attention to seeking profit," Zhang said.

According to Zhang, of China's 137 airports, some fail to meet the standards set by the GACAC.

"Furthermore, more than 30 airports are used for both civil and military purposes, which increases possible gaps because of unclear management responsibility," said Zhang.

In Kunming, Yunnan Province, last November, two boys aged 13 and 14 stowed away in the landing gear compartment of a Sichuan Airlines jet. The 13-year-old fell from the plane shortly after takeoff and died. The other boy survived the flight across southwest China to Chongqing.

"The accident at Kunming airport was caused by unclear lines of responsibility, as the airport is used for both civil and military purposes," Zhang said.

The administration, the industry regulator, is urging aviation enterprises to improve their security and security measures, he said.

(China Daily May 27, 2005)