Fighter pilot injured in crash is back in action

Commander Cao Xianjian, a top jet fighter pilot of the PLA Navy, said he is looking forward to taking off from the deck of the nation's first domestically developed aircraft carrier, which is currently under construction.

"I am eager to operate from the new carrier. It must be more advanced and stronger than the CNS Liaoning," he said, referring to China's first carrier. "Now we are busy honing our combat capabilities and skills to become good carrier-based pilots as soon as possible," he told China Daily before traveling to Beijing as a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opens on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People.

Cao, 36, a native of East China's Shandong province, has served 14 years in the People's Liberation Army and is qualified to fly seven types of aircraft, but it was a serious accident that launched him to national prominence.

During routine training in April 2016, the flight control systems on his J-15 fighter jet malfunctioned, and the aircraft fell into the sea. He tried his best to save it, but ultimately was forced to eject, two seconds before it plunged into the water.

"When malfunctions happen with a plane, the first thought that comes to our mind is 'How can I fly it back?' - not ditching it," Cao said. "A good pilot would never give up on the aircraft if there was any other choice."

Because the altitude at which he ejected from the J-15 was too low for the parachute to fully spread, he nearly hit the surface before his fall was arrested only minimally.

Cao's lumbar vertebrae were fractured, requiring two surgeries at Beijing's Navy General Hospital.

Doctors said Cao would likely have to bid farewell to his flying career, as the injuries were so bad that they had to put two steel plates inside his body to sustain his spine.

When he awoke from anesthesia after the first surgery, he asked a doctor: "Will I be able to fly again?" He was determined to return.

Cao began to exercise soon after nurses removed the stitches from the surgical incision. He managed to persuade doctors to carry out the second surgery ahead of their treatment schedule so he'd have more time for flight training. He didn't want to miss the carrier-based pilot's qualification test this year.

After months of rehabilitation, doctors decided in March that Cao had recovered sufficiently to return to his unit and resume his flight training.

China commissioned the Liaoning in September 2012, after several years of refitting on a half-built vessel purchased from Ukraine. Two months later, Dai Mingmeng landed on the carrier in a J-15, becoming the first Chinese pilot to do so. In May 2013, the PLA Navy established its first carrier-borne aircraft unit with Dai as its commander.

Cao said he was recruited by Dai's unit in 2013 and has spared no effort to qualify as a carrier-based pilot.

"I will never give up my flying career because of the injuries," he said.

On May 30, Cao became the first of a new generation of J-15 pilots to land a plane on the Liaoning, fulfilling his pledge. He was awarded a special badge to mark the achievement.

Cao said he looks forward to flying his fighter over expanses of ocean as the nation's carriers sail ever farther into blue waters.