By Congshan Lu, iChongqing News

Chongqing- The safe landing of an A320 airplane on Wushan Airport at 11:10 AM on April 18 declares the success of test flight in Wushan Airport, which has the highest altitude of Chongqing city. 

Flight task finished in 70 mins

After landing, Wang Yi, the captain of this test flight, said that this journey was a great success. The runway of landing condition is perfect, and lighting and other important devices are fully equipped. According to the original plan, the test flight should be taken 50 minutes while the actual flight took 70 minutes. Wang Yi explained that Wushan Airport is near the boundary of Hubei province and Chongqing, which has a special geographical location. Conflicts have been triggered because a plane was just landing on the Shennongjia Airport. Wang Yi said: "If everything is alright, we can have finished this trip within 50 minutes.”

This test flight has thoroughly examined the facilities in the airport, such as air-ground communication, navigation devices, runway condition sliding routes, the signs of flight zone, and so on. All the figures and results turned out to be normal, the relevant facilities and devices have met the aviation standards. The test plane took off again at 13:40 PM the same day to test the instrument landing system and other programs.

Four Major difficulties are tracked

According to Lin Zhiyi, the deputy captain of the test plane, the crewmembers have planned together with staffs in Wushan airport, as the control tower, supervision, and management department. There are four major difficulties for the flight task to Wushan.

First of all, Wushan Airport has a special geographical location and complex airspace structure. This is related to the airspace limitation in Hubei province, in which the higher altitude zone belongs to Chengdu. Therefore, it needs the coordination and supervision of several management departments.

Moreover, Wushan Airport was built on a mountain, without any obstacles. Thus, the speed and direction of the wind may change frequently, which affects taking off and landing.

Furthermore, because the airport is brand new, stability and safety are still being monitored. Lin Zhiyi said:" The most significant obstacle is wind shear, experiencing the wind shear during flight is a super complicated and troublesome problem."

The highest airport in Chongqing

The construction of the terminal in Wushan Airport has almost been finished. The terminal is being decorated right now, and the entire mission has been almost completed. The green space around the airport can be finished within days while the formal flight can be achieved soon.

Wushan Airport is the highest airport in Chongqing, with an altitude of 1771.48m high, being controlled by the two great mountain chains named Wushan and Bashan. Additionally, it is the only airport built in highland in Chongqing. Before the test flight, the thorough plan has been settled by Wushan Airport, Chongqing Airline, supervision departments. In the meantime, a pilot with experiences in flying in highlands was selected to finish this test.

Wushan Airport flight zone is classified as 4C, and the runway is 2600 meters long  45 meters wide. It has 4CB flight spots and the terminal has the ground area of 3500 square meters. Additionally, it is designed for a target passenger throughput capacity of 280,000 and freight throughput of 1,200 tons. After the formal opening, it will build a solid foundation of economic and tourism development in the Three Gorges area and fulfill the dream of navigation in the region for decades.