CAAC Punishments
Chinese airlines have a good safety record in general, but passengers have, on occasion, accused pilots of smoking during flights. Few such incidents have been confirmed, however.
In the incident involving Air China's Boeing 737, the plane was flying to the Chinese city of Dalian from Hong Kong on July 10 when it dropped to 10,000 feet (3,048 m), with oxygen masks deployed, before climbing again.
Preliminary investigation by the regulator showed the co-pilot was smoking an e-cigarette and as smoke diffused into the passenger cabin, relevant air conditioning components were wrongly shut off, resulting in insufficient oxygen.
The CAAC often punishes airlines or aviation staff if it finds them guilty of violations.
Last year, CAAC fined Gulf airline Emirates 29,000 yuan for two safety violations in Chinese airspace and barred it from expanding its operations in China for six months.
In 2015, the regulator ordered Beijing-based Okay Airways to cut its flights by 20 percent and fined it 500,000 yuan for overworking its pilots. ($1 = 6.7018 Chinese yuan renminbi)
