The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that a passenger plane carrying 132 people crashed on March 21 in a mountainous area in southern China.
Rescue teams went to the steep, densely wooded location in the hopes of finding survivors, but early reports said they only saw rubble and fire. Chinese state television reported that all passengers on board were residents of China.
According to FlightRadar24, Flight MU5735, a Boeing 737-800, departed Kunming at 1:11 p.m. local time (1:11 a.m. ET), carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, and was scheduled to arrive in the southeast China city of Guangzhou in less than 2 hours.
The plane was traveling at 29,100 feet when it began a rapid descent at 2:20 p.m., temporarily recovered more than 1,000 feet, and then continued to plunge downward. In less than 2 minutes, it plummeted more than 25,000 feet.
“This kind of tragedy is extremely unusual,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, referring to the plane’s abrupt and steep descent from cruising altitude.
Chinese state media report that the crash resulted in a mountain fire. A video posted to social media showed fire and smoke in the mountains, as well as a portion of a plane lying on a dirt road.
Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, immediately made a statement urging rescuers to do everything possible to “handle the aftermath in a proper manner.”
The fire department of Guangxi has already organized and deployed a team of 650 rescuers for emergency response to the incident, who approached the crash site from three different directions.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration announced that a team would be dispatched to the crash scene in Guangxi to conduct an inquiry into the cause of the accident. Investigators will attempt to recover the plane’s “black boxes,” which contain cockpit voice recordings and flight data.
The investigation will likely assess the nearly 7-year-old aircraft’s previous trips, maintenance history, weather data, and pilot health as well. After the crash, China Eastern Airlines grounded all its 737-800s.
Li Xiaojin, a Chinese aviation expert, said that a plane is normally on autopilot mode during the cruise stage – making the reason for the crash difficult to understand. The cause of the flight’s rapid descent just minutes after takeoff has yet to be determined.
According to the Aviation Safety Network database, if all 123 passengers and nine crew members are confirmed deceased, it will be China’s deadliest aircraft crash since 1994 and the deadliest ever for China Eastern Airlines.
“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735,” Boeing said in a statement. “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.”
