China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 crashed in the mountains in southern China’s Guangxi region on Monday. It is believed that 123 passengers and 9 crew members were on board the Boeing 737-800. Rescue teams have reached the crash site, but no survivors have been found.
It has been reported that air traffic control lost contact with Flight MU5735 around an hour after takeoff. Flight tracking data show the aircraft descending approximately 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) in three minutes. Images of the accident site indicated that there was a significant post-crash fire. The domestic flight was traveling from Kunming to Guangzhou.
The accident aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines in 2015. The airline grounded its Boeing 737-800 fleet following the crash. The Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) is investigating.
“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735,” Boeing said in a statement. “We are working with our airline customer and are ready to support them. Boeing is in contact with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and our technical experts are prepared to assist with the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.”
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
Terrible accident, there is a video of it going straight down like a missile. I hope they find the cause quickly.
There is an obvious possibility this was murder suicide by the pilot. However, my personal experience with China Eastern is that they are extremely poor at maintenance. I am surprised there aren’t more China Eastern air crashes. I flew in one of their planes in the 90s and the cabin door had duct tape holding parts in place. This plane might have had a catastrophic failure before plummeting to the ground. Which would be no surprise when they don’t maintain the fleet.