A photo showing the damaged wing of the aircraft which suffers from the landing accident on May 1, 2016. [Photo: newssc.org]

China's civil aviation authority has punished two captains and an assistant captain in response to a landing accident in Southwestern China's Sichuan Province which nearly caused a plane crash.

The two captains' licenses have been revoked, while that of the assistant captain has been suspended.

All three of them are employees of China Eastern Airlines' Sichuan branch.

The sub-company has also been suspended from opening up new flight routes, after receiving a fine of 50-thousand yuan, or 77-hundred US dollars.

The accident took place on May 1 with an intra-provincial aircraft from Chengdu to Kangding.

It suffered damage to its tail and tires after failing to land at the destination due to bad weather conditions.

An investigation into the accident concluded that the three people being punished had violated aviation regulations when on duty.

The administration said the landing failure could have resulted in a serious plane crash, adding that the pilot hit the ground too hard at too high a speed under bad weather conditions.