SH5 down

[Jaap]

=censored=:

北海舰队一架水上飞机在胶州湾训练时失事坠海

My Google says:

North Sea Fleet training a seaplane crashed into the sea at Jiaozhou Bay

, which should mean that a SH5 (out of 4) crashed today.

Jaap

[Stratofreighter]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rcraft.jpg

For those "not too hot on Chinese aircraft knowledge", it is one of only six of these behemoths ever made...
Regular crew is eight POB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbin_SH-5 Harbin SH-5 Shuihong

[Tintin]

http://idrw.org/?p=22714

A military plane Thursday crashed into the sea off China’s eastern Shandong province, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy said.

The accident occurred around 10 a.m. when the seaplane from the Beihai Fleet was conducting a flight drill above Jiaozhou Bay near Qingdao city, Xinhua quoted the naval authorities as saying.

A rescue operation was launched, but it was not clear whether there were any casualties.

Reports of crashes and other military mishaps had been relatively rare in the past but the traditionally secretive People’s Liberation Army has been making greater efforts at transparency as it seeks to transition into a modern military.

The North Sea Fleet operates four Shuihong 5 seaplanes dating from the 1980s and used primarily for low-altitude maritime patrol and surveillance missions. Each carries five crew members.

[Uni]

They found all 6 crew bodies. One of them was the "Navy Captain(Army's Colonel)" or "Liutenant Colonel" class. So I think this is the reason why they reported the accident very quickly.