Two PLA Navy airmen were awarded first- and second-class merit citations earlier this week for successfully landing a plane that had burst into flames after being hit by a flock of birds during a training session.

The pilot Yuan Wei was at the controls of the J-15 fighter jet on July 10 when it collided with the birds less than 40 seconds after takeoff.

The jet's left engine caught fire, but Yuan managed to keep the plane under control with the help of more than 50 instructions from the control tower and his co-pilot Lu Chaohui.

He successfully land the plane, which had about 8 metric tons of jet fuel on board, less than 11 minutes after the accident.