China's aviation watchdog revoked the licenses of two captains of China Eastern Airlines' Sichuan Branch, and suspended a co-pilot for six months after an aborted landing that could have caused a crash, the authority said on Sunday.

On May 1, China Eastern Airbus A319-100, Registration B-6430 performing flight MU5443 from Chengdu to Kangding, suffered damage to its tail and tires when the aircraft struck approach lights causing parts of the approach lights to penetrate the aircraft's right hand horizontal stabilizer resulting in an additional hydraulic leak from the green hydraulic system.

The landing failure could have resulted in a serious plane crash, the administration said, adding that the pilot hit the ground too hard at too high a speed under bad weather conditions.

The aircraft went around and returned to Chengdu for a landing on runway 02R without further incident.

On May 6, the China Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) announced to suspend operation of Sichuan Branch and opened disciplinary proceedings against captain and first officer.

Meanwhile, the aviation watchdog has imposed a 10% reduction on China Eastern Sichuan Branch's existing flying time and restricted it from adding any new flights, either scheduled or charter for a period of time.

On May 7, the CAAC announced that the licenses of both captains have been revoked for life time, the first officer, who was not qualified for high-altitude airport operation, was suspended for 6 months.

The crew also violated aviation regulations when they failed to tell passengers to use their oxygen masks when the aircraft was flying at an altitude of over 3 kilometers.

Moreover, the administration also fined the branch 50,000 yuan because the crew of flight MU5443 from Chengdu to Kangding in Sichuan Province lied to administration investigators after the accident, adding that the chief flight attendant lied about the secondary captain being in the cockpit during the landing.

It has also urged China Eastern Sichuan Branch to strengthen its safety culture and organization management. "The airline must solve the problem," Li Jian, deputy chief of the CAAC, told China Eastern.

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