A Chinese pilot who calmly landed a 119-passenger plane after his co-pilot had apparently got partially sucked out of the plane has been honoured and awarded.
Liu Chuanjian, a 45-year-old captain of China's Sichuan Airlines, today received five million yuan (£581,521) and the title of 'hero captain of China's civil aviation', according to Xinhua News Agency.
Captain Liu was awarded for his brave behaviour and calm mind after a windshield of his plane suddenly shattered at 32,000 feet above the ground.
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Captain Liu Chuanjian, pictured, was awarded £580k by China's civil aviation authority today
The incident happened when a cockpit window broke and fell off a Sichuan Airlines plane shortly after takeoff (left). Co-pilot Xu Ruichen (right) was said to be sucked out of the window
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ShareCaptain Liu, who has 25 years of flying experience, had to land the Airbus A319 after the cockpit's temperature dropped to minus 40 degree Celsius when the window broke on May 14.
The Chinese aviation authority also awarded other members of the flight crew for successfully dealing with the emergency.
Xu Ruichen, the 27-year-old co-pilot who was said to be partially dangling out of the plane, received one million yuan (£116,304).
Passengers were told to put on oxygen masks after the plane sent out emergency code 7700
One passenger said the plane suddenly descended causing luggage and lunch boxes to drop to the floor (right). Passengers were told to fasten their seat belts and wear oxygen masks (left)
Liang Peng, the deputy captain, was awarded two million yuan (£232,608).
Six other crew members were given one million yuan between them, said Xinhua.
All passengers on the domestic Chinese plane were reported to be safe.
The Sichuan Airlines plane, 3U8633, was scheduled to fly from Chongqing to Lhasa in China.
One of the plane's windshields reportedly shattered about one hour into the flight when the Airbus A319 was flying over the city of Chengdu.
According to an earlier report by Xinhua, the captain issued an 'Squawk 7700' emergency code after the window shattered, alerting the air traffic control facilities of the dangerous situation.
The incident happened last month when the windshield broke and fell off at 32,000ft high
The captain claimed he flew the route more than 100 times.
In a previous interview, he told Chengdu Business Daily there were no warning sign when one of the windshields on the right-hand side of the cockpit shattered.
'The exploded window caused the cockpit to decompress immediately, everything in the cockpit was floating in the air.
'I couldn't hear the radio and the cockpit's temperature dropped to minus 40 degree Celsius,' he said.
The co-pilot had his upper body 'sucked out' of the broken windshield despite having a safety belt strapped on, stated the captain.
The co-pilot reportedly suffered scratches on the face and the chest as a result.
He landed a 119-passenger plane while his co-pilot being sucked out of a cockpit window
Captain Liu, left, was also honoured as 'hero captain of China's civil aviation' at the ceremony. His team of crew members were also rewarded
Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8633 was scheduled to fly from Chongqing on May 14
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