While several ground service staff at Lindu Airport, on condition of anonymity, said that it was foggy with low visibility when the plane crashed Tuesday night, the local weather bureau suggested otherwise.

The meteorological bureau of Yichun city, which regularly forecasts fog and other extreme weather conditions, found no signs of heavy fog that day.

"The city proper was not foggy at all between 9 pm and 10 pm," said Han Guangtian, the bureau chief. "Fog was possible at the airport, though, because it is located in a mountain valley surrounded by lush forests."

The forest area, he said, tends to be colder and more humid than the downtown areas, but still, "heavy fog was unlikely."

The plane crashed around 9:36 pm shortly after its captain told the ground controller he was "ready for normal landing", a top official in Yichun said on Wednesday, quoting airport authorities.

Survivor Xue Xilai said the accident happened shortly after the crew announced they were about to land. "They didn't say it was foggy on the ground. Nor did the crew say there was any danger."

However, the airport was shrouded in thick fog throughout the rescue operation on Tuesday night. Until 5 am Wednesday, visibility was no more than 300 meters.

The captain, 40-year-old Qi Quanjun, did not say anything about the accident except that he "couldn't remember anything", when interviewed at Yichun's No 1 Hospital on Wednesday morning.

Hospital president Qi Xingzhong said the captain suffered only facial injuries that could not have affected his memory or speech.

A source close to the pilot said he used to work for Shenzhen Airlines, the parent company of Henan Airlines, and resigned after he was demoted from captain to copilot. The man declined to be named.

"Frankly speaking, Qi's landing skills were so-so," said the source, who works at Mohe, another regional airport on China's northern border. "He became captain again at Henan Airlines."

Henan Airlines was previously known as Kunpeng Airlines. It flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in North and Northeast China.