China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509
flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang.
China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 (SZ4509) was a domestic flight in China from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang. On February 24, 1999, the Tupolev Tu-154M operating the flight crashed while on approach to Wenzhou Airport, killing all 61 passengers and crew members on board.
Aircraft and crew
The aircraft was a 1990-built Tupolev Tu-154M (serial number 90A-846, serial 0846) airliner powered by three Soloviev D-30 turbofan engines from UEC Saturn. It was initially registered in the Soviet Union with test registration CCCP-85846. It was delivered to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in April the same year, and was registered as B-2622.
The flight crew consisted of captain Yao Fuchen (Chinese: 姚福臣), age 37, first officer Xue Mao (薛冒), 28, navigator Lan Zhangfeng (郎占锋), 46, and flight engineer Guo Shuming (郭树铭), 49. There were also seven flight attendants on board.
Accident
On 24 February 1999, the crew was preparing the aircraft for landing at Wenzhou Airport. The flaps were extended at 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), but seconds after, the aircraft's nose lowered abruptly, the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air and crashed into an area of high ground, and exploded. Witnesses saw the plane nose dive into the ground from an altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft) and explode.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509” as flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q671604. Authority coordinates are 27.916, 120.656. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 1990.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 primary sources, China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 archive and China research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.