Airline again denies CNN reporter’s claim

China Eastern Airlines again denied a CNN reporter's microblog post about a passenger who was forced to delete a photograph of another passenger smoking in the first-class cabin.

The reporter, Steven Jiang, who is verified on Sina Weibo as a Beijing-based CNN reporter, posted on his microblog last Tuesday that a passenger onboard a China Eastern flight on December 2 was smoking after the plane took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, but crew members did nothing to stop him, despite safety rules against smoking.

Another passenger took a photo of the smoker with a mobile phone and was immediately ordered by security guards to delete the picture. After the flight landed in Beijing, the passenger was not allowed to depart until after several mysterious men forced the passenger to delete the photo.　

China Eastern Airlines denied the rumor last Tuesday, saying it had confirmed with the flight's crew members that nothing like what Jiang described had happened.

Jiang explained on his microblog last Friday that he was not on the plane and the flight number he posted was incorrect, but had sent the right number to the airline for further confirmation. "The person who took photo confirmed the whole incident, but considering that it has stirred up a lot of attention, he or she was not willing to release any more information," he said.

He also clarified that the post only expressed his own views, not those of the company. He also said he would be more cautious in the future about posting.

The airline said on its official microblog Sunday that it had checked with the cabin crew, first-class passengers and the ground crew, but found nothing to confirm the incident.

"We reserve the right to take further action," said Luo Anping, a press officer for China Eastern Airlines.