A boy died yesterday after falling from the landing gear compartment of an airliner taking off from Dunhuang, Gansu province .
The boy, from Dunhuang and aged about 10, fell from a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A320 bound for the provincial capital, Lanzhou, at 7.50am, Xinhua reported.
It is not known how he bypassed airport security checks and entered the airport apron, but the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said the incident exposed serious loopholes in security.
A China Eastern public relations official, who refused to be named, told the South China Morning Post the pilot felt 'an object' fall off at a height of 100 metres as the plane was taking off.
He said the journey proceeded when the pilot failed to find anything abnormal after checking the gear. The jet landed safely in Lanzhou 90 minutes later.
The CAAC has ordered the regional aviation authority to conduct an on-site investigation and reform its security procedures based on its findings, Xinhua reported.