Chinese businessman’s secret airfield discovered after he crashes helicopter
Illegal private airstrip won't fly with authorities, with businessman facing possible penalties
It was a secret too big to keep. A wealthy Chinese businessman’s illicit airfield was exposed and is now facing demolition after he crashed his helicopter near the site.
The businessman, surnamed Li, apparently built a 20,000 square metre airport, boasting three helipads, a 400-metre runway, as well as a swimming pool and log cabins in the eastern province of Anhui, the newspaper reported today.
The private playground, closed off with barbed wire, came to local reporters’ attention after Li, the chief manager of a construction machinery firm, crashed his 1 million yuan (HK$1.3 million) helicopter into a nearby reservoir.
Li swam to safety, but a 25-year-old male passenger was killed, the report said.
A witness who saw the “hidden” airfield told the : “Every single wall inside the cabins has planes painted on it and ‘flying club’ is written at the bottom of the swimming pool.”
Growing reports of “black flights”, as the clandestine trips are known, reveal a wealthy elite paying for the privilege of zooming to work in a plane or helicopter.
The newspaper said Li’s punishment for operating the facility has not been decided. Pilots flying illegally in China can be fined up to 100,000 yuan.
The airport was declared illegal and will be demolished “within a week”, according to local media.
Private aircraft ownership by China’s wealthy elite has grown in recent years, but the military controls airspace and is reluctant to permit private flights. Ownership is low compared with other large economies, with just a few hundred said to be registered.
The government plans to “open” low-altitude airspace of under 1,000 metres nationwide this year, official media have reported, without giving a specific date.
