The FAA declined to comment about its role, deferring to the NTSB, which is the US representative to the investigation. Watch the video above for more on the aftermath of the crash EDGE: A new global force in aerospace and defence, FlightGlobal Guide to Business Aviation Training and Safety 2021, Airline Business special: CEOs to watch in 2021, Boeing takes issue with massive Chinese Airbus order, Tara Twin Otter crash follows years of accidents, China says no official information about China Eastern crash released, FAA examining close call at Boston involving Learjet and JetBlue E190, Inside the effort to standardise 100% drop-in sustainable aviation fuel, Madrid reconfigures airspace to simplify arrivals and departures. Flight data from the doomed . [35] Aircraft wreckage and victims' belongings were found, but no signs of human remains were detected. Plane and Pilot builds on more than 50 years of serving pilots and owners of aircraft with the goal of empowering our readers to improve their knowledge and enthusiasm for aviation. Before crashing, that aircraft also briefly recovered some altitude. [citation needed] The aircraft had been scheduled to travel earlier from Baoshan to Kunming, but this segment of the journey was temporarily suspended due to low passenger numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China. The aircraft had been in service since 2015. [58], Early reports of the aircraft's flight data recorder pointed towards a deliberate crash from the cockpit. Sign in to continue reading, The Wall Street Journal said flight recorder data showed human input behind the nosedive and resultant crash, By Plane & Pilot Updated May 18, 2022 Save Article. State-run media focused on the emergency crews' response, including detailed lists of their equipment and provisions, and orders from Xi Jinping that officials do everything possible to find survivors. China will lead the investigation, which will include a representative from the US crash investigator the National Transportation Safety Board, plus representatives from Boeing and CFM, the General Electric-Safran joint venture that made the engines on this plane. The Wall Street Journal is reporting an update regarding the crash of China Eastern flight MU5735, which was scheduled to operate from Kunming (KMG) to Guangzhou (CAN). If the China Eastern crash is confirmed as the latest such suicide, it will mean that deaths due to intentional acts have exceeded all other causes since the start of 2021. Cox also cites two similar 737 crashes caused by a rudder servo valve problem: USAir flight 427 (a 737-300) in 1994, and United Airlines flight 585 (a 737-200) in 1991. CAAC has yet to issue a response to the Wall Street Journal report. 0. However, neither China's authorities nor Boeing released any technical recommendations since the event. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has not yet determined the ultimate cause of the crash, and China Eastern has previously said the pilot flying the plane was in good physical, emotional, and financial health. Mr Zhu said the aircraft did not respond to repeated calls from air controllers during its rapid descent. Shell Aviation: What will it take to Decarbonise Aviation? The China Eastern jet crash that killed 132 people when the craft slammed into a mountainside appears to have been an intentional act, according to a report Tuesday. China Eastern Boeing 737 nosedive was intentional. The project aims to modernise instrument arrival and departure procedures by adapting them to area navigation and performance-based navigation requirements. [36][37] Workers used hand equipment, detection dogs and UAVs to search for the flight recorders and human remains, finding one flight recorder on 23 March. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Heres what we know. [5] It was first flown on 5 June 2015 and was delivered new to China Eastern Yunnan Airlines (subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines) on 25 June 2015. China's state-run media said the crash led to a fire on a. China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in China from Kunming to Guangzhou. Given the crash sites remoteness and inaccessibility, combined with the destructive high-velocity impact, the search for the flight recorders was beyond challenging. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which is leading the investigation, has not yet said what it thinks caused the crash. Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for investigators to determine the cause as soon as possible and to ensure "absolute" aviation safety. Flight data indicates the China Eastern Airlines nose dive on March 21 may have been intentional. The flight crew consisted of three pilots, five flight attendants and an in-flight security guard. Three days after the China Eastern Airlines flight fell from the sky, there are more questions than answers. Suddenly, about 1h after taking off, it dived steeply, at one point descending at more than 30,000ft per minute, according to publicly available ADS-B data from aircraft tracking site Flightradar24.com. [6][7], Contact with the aircraft was lost over the city of Wuzhou. The incident occurred near Wuzhou in Teng County, Southern China, at about 2:20 pm, less than an hour before flight MU5735 was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou. This website uses cookies to improve your experience and for ads personalisation. [17] All of the plane's occupants died. By Jon Hemmerdinger2022-04-25T20:23:00+01:00. Airliners do not come straight down unless someone in the cockpit commands the aircraft to do so, he says, and even then, that person must keep pressure on the controls or the jet will start levelling off. The China Eastern Airlines Corp. jet was flying a normal route to Guangzhou when it suddenly nosed over at cruise altitude and dove. Others showed "loss of contact", "unknown," or a blanked-out status. His family said he had taken a job at Guardian Flight last year. There were no official statements, suggesting that the China Eastern crash was deliberate. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [12][13][14], Residents of the villages surrounding the crash site heard a loud explosion[15] and the final descent and crash was filmed by a security camera at the premises of a local mining company. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NTSB and Boeing are assisting with Chinas investigation. The plane slammed into the ground with such force that it created a 66-foot deep hole in the ground, according to Chinese officials. All 123 passengers and nine crew members were killed. That kind of vertical dive, without a radio call of any kind from the flightcrew, could clearly indicate a human activity to make that happen, says aviation safety consultant and former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member John Goglia. U.S. investigators believe someone on board deliberately crashed a China Eastern flight in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, in what was China's deadliest air disaster in decades . U.S. investigators believe someone in the cockpit deliberately crashed a China Eastern flight in March, in what was Chinas deadliest aviation disaster for 28 years, according to media reports. Ice accumulation on the wings caused the plane to lose its lift, causing the crash. Americas owner-flown aircraft enthusiasts and active-pilot resource, delivered to your inbox! China's last major airline crash was in 2010, when an Embraer ERJ-190LR operated by Henan Airlines crashed while trying to land on a foggy runway, catching fire and killing 44 of the 96 people. Parts of the China Eastern jet that went down in the country's first commercial crash since 2010. They will examine pieces of the wreckage for clues. Investigators face a formidable challenge in figuring out why China Eastern Flight 5735 crashed on March 21. Boeing NG, or Next Generation, 737s, including the 737-800, have flown more than 116 million flights. Chinese officials have also said that the China Eastern flight did not send out any distress signals before crashing, and that communications between the vessel and air traffic control didnt indicate anything abnormal before the crash, casting doubt on a cockpit breach. File image. Rescue personnel at the crash site of flightMU5735. One device, the flight data recorder, captures information about the planes airspeed, altitude, direction up or down, pilot actions, and performance of all key systems. The instruments were subsequently sent to Washington, D.C., for data recovery. Goglia says the China Eastern accident appears amazingly similar to the EgyptAir and SilkAir crashes. In mid April, China Eastern returned some 737-800s to service, data from flight tracking sites and Cirium shows. But events involving such extreme descent rates do not always result from deliberate pilot action. Both the NTSB and Boeing also declined to comment, deferring to the CAAC. "The NTSB doesn't comment on investigations led by other authorities. A sudden human input to the plane's controls appears to have caused a China Eastern flight to plunge nearly vertically into the mountains of Southern China in March, killing all 132 passengers onboard, according to preliminary findings from US authorities investigating the crash. They include the October 1999 crash into the Atlantic Ocean of EgyptAir flight 990, a 767-300ER that plummeted at a descent rate reaching 39,000ft per minute. Details about the crash remain sparse, but the information available seems to suggest either that the jet suffered some type of incredibly unusual flight-control problem, or that one of its pilots put the 737 into a dive. [66] Over 1,000 psychology staff were dispatched to provide aid and emotional support to the families of the victims. The US is cautious against acting in any way that might push China closer to Russia or encourage Chinese support for Moscows invasion of Ukraine, say observers. What will it take to Decarbonise Aviation? The revelation has led US officials involved in the investigation to shift their focus to the actions of a pilot, but its also possible that someone else on the plane stormed into the cockpit and caused the crash, sources told the newspaper. Though disputed by Egypt, the NTSB concluded the first officer caused the crash by pushing the jet into a dive and cutting its engines. The CAAC published a preliminary report on April 20, 30 days after the accident. Commentary: Chinese Spy Balloon Hysteria or Not? Chinese authorities are not pointing to issues regarding mechanical or flight control problems. Goglia says an explosion or rapid decompression would likely have caused the jet to break apart. China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in China from Kunming to Guangzhou. The crash of China Eastern Flight 5735 posed a fresh challenge for aviation authorities in the country, which has maintained a strong flight-safety record in recent years. With the cause of the crash unknown, some Chinese social media users turned to conspiracy theories and suspected the involvement of the United States in the accident. 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