Regional jetliners grounded after a plane crash last month in North China's Inner Mongolia are expected to resume flying soon.

All the 18 CRJ-200 regional jetliners owned by domestic airlines in the country have been identified as "airworthy" by the nation's civil aviation authority.

The small aircraft, supplied by the Canada-based Bombardier Aerospace, are owned by Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Aviation Group and Yunnan Branch of China Eastern Airlines.

The three carriers applied to resume flights and authorities plan to give the green light, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said yesterday.

On November 21, a China Eastern CRJ-200 aircraft fell in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, killing 55.

The accident occurred about 12 seconds after the plane took off from Baotou en route to Shanghai.

All similar planes were grounded two days later until complete assessments be completed.

The checkups chiefly focused on the completeness of legitimate technical documents of the aircraft, repairing guidelines, airworthiness instructions and technical data of the planes and their engines.

Preliminary investigations show that there are no problems with planes of this type in airworthiness or technical standards, the CAAC said.

Around 1,000 such airplanes are operating normal flights around the world.

(China Daily December 24, 2004)