A Chinese co-pilot is recovering in hospital after apparently being sucked out a cockpit window and had half of his body dangling out of the plane at 32,000ft high, the Daily Mail reports.

Xu Ruichen, 27, was saved by his seat belt after the windshield in front of him suddenly broke and fell off the Sichuan Airlines plane carrying 119 passengers, said the captain of the flight to Chinese media.

Despite the fact that the cockpit's temperature suddenly dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius, captain Liu Chuanjian safely landed the Airbus A319 after the mid-air emergency over south-western China yesterday morning.

The co-pilot Xu reportedly suffered scratches on the face and the chest and is currently hospitalised in Chengdu, according to state broadcaster Central China Television Station. 

During a press conference, the captain thanked his flight crew for helping him deal with the emergency calmly and successfully.

All passengers were reported to be safe. 

The Sichuan Airlines plane, 3U8633, was scheduled to fly from Chongqing to Lhasa. It departed Chongqing at 6:27am and was due to arrive in Lhasa at 9:27:am.

One of the plane's windshields reportedly shattered about one hour into the flight when the Airbus A319 was flying over the city of Chengdu. 

The plane was diverted to nearby Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu. Within in 20 minutes at around 7:46am, the captain safely landed the plane at the airport.