Article 126 The carrier shall be liable for damageoccasioned by delay in the transport by air of passengers,baggage or cargo; provided that the carrier isnot liable if he proved that he and his servants or agentshave taken all necessary measures to avoid the damageor that is was impossible for him or them to take suchmeasures.Article 127 In the transport of passengers andbaggage, if the carrier proves that the damage wascaused by or contributed to by the fault of the claimant,the carrier may be wholly or partly exoneratedfrom his liability in accordance with the extent of thefault that caused or contributed to such damage.-52-Where a person other than the passenger claims compensationwith respect to the death or injury of thepassenger, the carrier may similarly be wholly or partlyexonerated from his liability in accordance with theextent of the fault that caused or contributed to suchdamage, if the carrier proves that the death or injurywas caused by or contributed to by the fault of thepassenger himself.In the transport of cargo, if the carrier proves thatthe damage was caused by or contributed to the fault ofthe person claiming compensation, or the person fromwhom he derived his right, the carrier shall be wholly orpartly exonerated from his liability in accordance withthe extent of the fault that caused or contributed tosuch damage.
Article 128 The limits of carrier's liability indomestic air transport shall be formulated by the competentcivil aviation authority under the State Counciland put in force after being approved by the StateCouncil.If the passenger or the shipper has made, at thetime when the checked baggage or cargo was handedover to the carrier, a special declaration of interest indelivery at destination and has paid a supplementarysum if the case so requires, the carrier shall be liable topay a sum not exceeding the declared sum, unless heproves that the sum declared by the passenger or shipperis greater than the actual interest of the checked-53-baggage or cargo in delivery at destination; the otherprovisions of Article 129 of this Law shall be applicableto domestic air transport except the limits of liability.Article 129 In international air transport, theliability of the carrier shall be as the following:(1) The liability of the carrier for each passenger islimited to the sum of 16600 units of account. Nevertheless,the passenger may agree with the carrier in writingto a limit of liability higher than that prescribed bythis sub-paragraph;(2) The liability of the carrier for each kilogram ofchecked baggage or cargo is limited to a sum of17 units of account. If the passenger or shipper hasmade, at the time when the package was handed over tothe carrier, a special declaration of interest in deliveryat destination and has paid a supplementary sum if thecase so requires, the carrier shall be liable to pay a sumnot exceeding the declared sum, unless he proves thatthe sum declared by the passenger or shipper is greaterthan the actual interest of the checked baggage or cargoin delivery at destination.In the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay ofa part of checked baggage or cargo, or of any objectcontained therein, the weight to be taken into considerationin determining the amount to which the carrier'sliability is limited shall only be the total weight of thepackage or packages concerned. Nevertheless, when thedestruction, loss, damage or delay of a part of the-54-checked baggage or cargo, or of an object containedtherein, affects the value of other packages covered bythe same baggage check or the same air waybill, the totalweight of such package or packages shall also betaken into consideration in determining the limit of liabilityof the carrier.(3) The liability of the carrier for carry-on baggageof a passenger is limited to 332 units of account perpassenger.
Article 130 Any provision tending to relieve thecarrier of the liability prescribed by this Law or to fix alower limit than that which is laid down in this Lawshall be null and void, but the nullity of any such provisionshall not involve the nullity of the whole contractof transport by air.Article 131 Any action for damage occurred inair transport, however founded, can only be broughtsubject to the conditions and limits of liability set out inthis Law, without prejudice to the question as to whoare the persons who have the right to bring suit andwhat are their respective rights.Article 132 The carrier shall not be entitled toavail himself of the provisions of Articles 128 and129 of this Law concerning the limit of liability if it isproved that the damage in the air transport resultedfrom an act or omission of the carrier, his servants or-55-agents, done with intent to cause damage or recklesslyand with knowledge that damage would probablyresult; provided that, in the case of such act or omissionof a servant or agent of the carrier, it is also proved thathe was acting within the scope of his employment.Article 133 If an action is brought against aservant or agent of the carrier arising out of damageduring air transport, such servant or agent, if it provesthat he acted within the scope of his employment, shallbe entitled to avail himself of the limits of liability asprovided in Articles 128 and 129 of this Law.The aggregate of the amounts recoverable from thecarrier, his servants and agents, in the case provided inthe preceding paragraph, shall not exceed the legal limitsofliability.The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Articleshall not apply if it is proved that the damage in airtransport resulted from an act or omission of the servantor agent of the carrier done with intent to causedamage or recklessly and with knowledge that damagewould probably result.
Article 134 Receipt by the passenger of checkedbaggage or receipt of cargo by the consignee withoutcomplaint shall be prima facie evidence that the samehave been delivered in good condition and inaccordance with the document of transport.In the case of damage to checked baggage or-56-cargo, the passenger or consignee must complain to thecarrier forthwith after the discovery of the damage, andat the latest, within seven days from the date of receiptin the case of checked baggage and fourteen days fromthe date of receipt in the case of cargo. In the case of delaythe complaint must be made at the latest withintwenty-one days from the date on which the checkedbaggage or cargo have been placed at the disposition ofthe passenger or consignee.Every complaint must be made in writing upon thedocument of transport or by separate notice dispatchedwithin the periods prescribed in the preceding paragraph.Failing complaint within the periods provided inparagraph 2 of this Article, the passenger or consigneeshall be deprived of the right to claim compensationfrom the carrier, save in the case of fraud on the part ofthe carrier.
Article 135 The time for bringing up an actionconcerning air transport is limited to two years, reckonedfrom the date of arrival of civil aircraft at the destination,or from the date on which the civil aircraftought to have arrived, or from the date on which thetransport stopped.Article 136 In the case of transport to be performedby various successive carriers, each carrier whoaccepts passengers, baggage or cargo shall be subject to-57-the provisions of this Law, and shall be deemed to beone of the contracting parties to the contract of transportin so far as that part of the transport is concernedwhich is performed by it in accordance with the contract.In the case of transport of this nature, the passengeror his successor can take action only against thecarrier who performed the part of transport duringwhich the accident or the delay occurred, save in thecase where, by express agreement, the first carrier shallassume liability for the whole journey.As regards checked baggage or cargo, the passengeror shipper shall have the right of action against thefirst carrier, and the passenger or consignee shall havethe right of action against the last carrier, and further,each may take action against the carrier who performedthe part of transport during which the destruction, loss,damage, or delay took place. These carriers shall bejointly and severally liable to the passenger or to theshipper or consignee.Section 4 Special Provisions Governing AirTransport Performed by Actual CarrierArticle 137 "Contracting carrier" referred to inthis Section means any person who has concluded acontract of transport by air subject to the regulations ofthis Chapter in his own name with a passenger or a-58-shipper, or with the agent of a passenger or of ashipper.IIActual carrier" referred to in this Section meansany person to whom the performance of the whole orpart of the transport referred to in the preceding paragraphhas been authorized by the contracting carrier,and who is not the successive carrier as provided in thisChapter; in the absence of a proof to the contrary, suchauthorization is deemed to be in existence.
Article 138 Both the contracting carrier and theactual carrier shall, except as otherwise provided in thisSection, be subject to the provisions of this Chapter.The contracting carrier shall be responsible for thewhole of the transport contemplated in the contract.The actual carrier shall be responsible for the transportwhich he performs.Article 139 The acts and omissions of an actualcarrier and of his servants and agents acting within thescope of their employment shall, in relation to thetransport performed by the actual carrier, be deemed tobe also those of the contracting carrier.The acts and omissions of the contracting carrierand of his servants and agents acting within the scopeof their employment shall, in relation to the transportperformed by the actual carrier, be deemed to be alsothose of the actual carrier. Nevertheless, no such act oromission shall subject the actual carrier to liability ex--59-ceeding the legal limits.Any special agreement under which the contractingcarrier concerned assumes obligations not imposedby this Chapter or waives the rights conferred bythis Chapter or any special declaration of interest in deliveryat destination contemplated in Articles 128 and129 of this Law, shall not affect the actual carrier unlessagreed by him.
Article 140 Any claim to be made or order tobe given under the provisions of this Chapter shall haveequal effect whether addressed to the contracting carrieror to the actual carrier. Nevertheless, orders referredto in Article 119 of this Law shall only be effective ifaddressed to the contracting carrier.Article 141 In relation to the transport performedby the actual carrier, any servant or agent ofthat carrier or of the contracting carrier shall, if heproves that he acted within the scope of his employment,be entitled to avail himself of the provisions ofArticles 128 and 129 of this Law concerning the limitsof liability, unless he acted in a manner which, underthe provisions of this Law, prevents the limits of liabilityfrom being invoked.Article 142 In relation to the transport performedby the actual carrier, the aggregate of theamounts recoverable from that carrier and the con--60-tracting carrier, and from their servants and agents actingwithin the scope of their employment, shall not exceedthe highest amount which could be awardedagainst either the contracting carrier or the actual carrierunder this Law, but none of the persons mentionedshall be liable for a sum in excess of the limit of liabilityapplicable to him.
Article 143 In relation to the transport performedby the actual carrier, an action may be broughtagainst that carrier or the contracting carrierseparately, or against both together; the carrier againstwhom an action has been brought shall have the rightto require the other carrier to join in the proceedings.Article 144 Except as provided in Article 143 ofthis Law, nothing in this Section shall affect the rightsand obligations between the actual carrier and the contractingcarrier.Chapter XGeneral AviationArticle 145 "General aviation" means civil aviationoperations other than public air transport with civilaircraft, including aerial work in the fields ofindustry, agriculture, forestry, fishery and building in--61-dustry, and flight operations III the fields of medicaland health work, emergency and disaster relief, meteorologicalservice, ocean monitoring, scientific experiment,education and training, culture and sports.Article 146 The operation of general aviationshall satisfy the following conditions:(I) The availability of civil aircraft suitable to thegeneral aviation activities to be operated and conformingto the requirements of ensuring flight safety;(2) The availability of necessary airmen who havebeen issued licences according to law; and(3) Other conditions conforming to the provisionsof laws and administrative rules and regulations.The operation of general aviation for commercialpurposes is limited to corporate enterprises.Article 147 Those engaged in general aviationoperations not for commercial purposes shall registerwith the competent civil aviation authority under theState Council.Those engaged in general aviation operations forcommercial purposes shall apply to the competent civilaviation authority under the State Council for generalaviation operating licences, and register with the administrativedepartment for industry and commerce accordingto law; no registration shall be performed by theadministrative department for industry and commercefor those that failed to obtain operating licences.-62-Article 148 A general aviation enterprise engagedin general aviation operations for commercialpurposes shall enter into agreement in writing with userswith the exception of rescue or disaster relief operationsunder emergent circumstances.Article 149 In organizing and carrying out aerialwork, effective measures shall be taken to ensureflight safety, protect environment and ecological balanceand prevent damage to be caused to environment,residents, crops or livestock.Article 150 Those engaged in general avrationoperations shall be covered by insurance against liabilityfor third parties on the surface.Chapter XI
Search and Rescue and Accident InvestigationArticle 151 A
civil aircraft in emergency shallflash signals and report to air traffic control unit to requestrescue; the air traffic control unit shall notify immediatelythe search and rescue coordination centre. Acivil aircraft in emergency on the sea shall also flashsignals to vessels and national maritime search and rescueservice.-63-Article 152 Any unit or person observing or listeningin to the emergency of a civil aircraft shall immediatelynotify the search and rescue coordinationcentre concerned, the maritime search and rescue serviceconcerned or the local People's Government.Article 153 Upon receiving the notification, thesearch and rescue coordination centre, the localPeople's Government and the maritime search and rescueservice shall immediately organize the search andrescue operation.The search and rescue coordination centre whichhas received the notice shall manage to notify the civilaircraft in emergency of the search and rescue measuresalready taken.The specific measures for searching and rescuingcivil aircraft shall be formulated by the State Council.Article 154 The unit or person performingsearch and rescue mission shall do their best to rescuethe persons carried in the civil aircraft, and take measuresto rescue the civil aircraft, protect the scene of accidentand preserve evidences according to regulations.Article 155 The parties to an accident of civilaircraft and persons concerned shall, at the time of investigation,truthfully reflect the situation at the sceneof accident and other information concerning the acci--64-dent.Article 156 The organization and procedures ofthe investigation of civil aircraft accident shall be prescribedby the State Council.
Chapter XIILiability for Damageto Third Parties on the SurfaceArticle 157 Any person on the surface (includingwater surface, the same below) who suffersdeath or personal injury or damage to property causedby a civil aircraft in flight or by any person or thing fallingtherefrom shall be entitled to compensation. Nevertheless,the person suffers damage shall have no rightto compensation if the damage is not a direct consequenceof the incident giving rise thereto, or if the damageresults from the mere fact of passage of the civil aircraftthrough the airspace in conformity with air trafficregulations concerned of the State.The term "in flight" mentioned in the precedingparagraph means the period beginning from the momentwhen power is applied by a civil aircraft for thepurpose of actual takeoff until the moment when thelanding run ends. In the case of a civil aircraft lighterthan air, the expression "in flight" relates to the period-65-from the moment when it becomes detached from thesurface until it becomes again attached thereto.Article 158 The liability for compensation contemplatedby Article 157 of this Law shall attach to theoperator of the civil aircraft.The term "operator" mentioned in the precedingparagraph means the person who was making use of thecivil aircraft at the time the damage was caused. However,if the control of the navigation of the civil aircraftwas retained by the person from whom the right tomake use of the civil aircraft was derived, whetherdirectly or indirectly, that person shall still be consideredthe operator.The operator shall be considered to be making useof a civil aircraft when his servants or agents are usingthe civil aircraft in the course of their employment,whether or not within the scope of their authority.The registered owner of the civil aircraft shall bepresumed to be the operator and shall be liable as suchunless, in the proceedings for the determination of hisliability, he proves that some other person was the operatorand, in so far as legal procedures permit, takesappropriate measures to make that other person a partyin the proceedings.
