On Oct. 9, Chinese air force authorities denied all rumor circulating online about the crash of a J-10B aircraft during a test flight in Xi’an
Recently, a rumor spread online that a Chinese J-10 jet fighter crashed during a test flight in the Yan Liang district of Xi’an, Shanxi province. Internet reports had said that the pilot did not eject in order to save the aircraft and died in line of duty.
On Oct. 9, a reporter from People’s Daily Online asked Chinese air force authorities, who said the crash was a complete fiction.
Air force authorities said an investigation traced the source of this fabricated information to the personal blog of a worker from a website in Beijing. The post attracted the attention of the media and was copied extensively.
The J-10 is a multi-purpose fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People’s Republic of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. With an apt codename that translates to the “Vigorous Dragon,” the J-10 is a multi-purpose combat aircraft capable of all-weather operation.
