Crash site of a China Eastern's Boeing737 in Tengxian county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 21, 2022 Photo: Xinhua

China ended a record of 4,227 safe flight days in the history of civil aviation worldwide after a China Eastern Boeing 737 with 132 people onboard crashed Monday afternoon in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, causing a mountain fire. 

Although no casualties have been reported yet, it is believed that there is little chance of survival for those onboard, as flight data showed the plane lost its radar information two minutes after it suddenly descended from cruising altitude of around 8,869 meters. An unverified video circulated online showed the plane almost vertically fell to the forest.

This is the first air crash in China since a fatal incident took place in Yichun, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province back in 2010. The Yichun crash killed 44 people.

Shortly after the accident, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out search and rescue efforts, according to Xinhua News Agency. Xi ordered the immediate launch of an emergency response, all-out search and rescue efforts and the proper settlement of the aftermath.

The State Council, China's cabinet, said it will assign officials to deal with the accident as a priority, identify the cause as soon as possible, and strengthen the investigation of safety hazards in the civil aviation sector to ensure the absolute safety of aviation operations and people's lives in the future.

 
The official website of China Eastern Airlines was turned to black and white to mourn for the tragedy, and it expressed its deep condolences to the passengers and crew members onboard, and promised to actively cooperate with the investigation.

The plane, flight MU5735, took off from Kunming Changshui airport in Southwest China's Yunnan Province at 13:15, and was scheduled to arrive at Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province at 15:07. 

The plane had 132 people onboard, including 123 passengers, and nine crew members. 

Rescue work is underway in Tengxian county,South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 21, 2022 after the air crash. Photo: VCG

At about 2 pm on Monday, a resident surnamed Li told Beijing Youth Daily that he was driving when he suddenly saw a plane in front of him falling from the sky.

"The plane fell vertically from the sky. Although I was far away, I could still see that it was a plane. The plane did not emit smoke during the fall, it fell into the mountains and started a fire, and then a lot of smoke came out," he said.

Flight data from information provider VariFlight showed the plane cruising at an altitude of about 8,869 meters after it took off from Kunming airport. At 2:19 pm, the aircraft suddenly descended from cruising altitude, while flight speed also began to decrease from about 845 kilometers per hour. At 2:21, flight MU5735 lost its ADS-B radar signal and also lost contact with the ground.

Judging from the flight data, there is no information to indicate that the pilot made any contact with ground control. It is likely that the aircraft lost engine power at cruising altitude, resulting in the pilot losing control of the aircraft. It could be a very serious technical failure in which the plane inevitably enters a high-speed descent, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge, told the Global Times on Monday. 

However, the specific cause of the accident can only be determined until the black box is recovered and analyzed, he noted. 

Premier Li Keqiang urged efforts to console the families of the victims and provide them with assistance, release accurate information in a timely manner, conduct a serious probe into the incident, and take strong measures to strengthen the safety of civil aviation.

The PLA Southern Theater Command on Monday organized forces to join the rescue efforts at the crash site, with multiple units standing by.

In terms of the casualties, the situation appears grim, and the possibility of all onboard perishing cannot be ruled out. Moreover, search and rescue is difficult due to the terrain around the crash site, while the impact of wildfires will present a high risk to anyone who managed to survive the crash, Wang said.


 
Aircraft grounded

The aircraft involved is a Boeing 737-800 belonging to the Yunnan subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines and had been in operation just over six and a half years. The plane was delivered in June 2015.

After the crash, sources told the Global Times that China Eastern Airlines has decided to ground all of the company's Boeing 737-800 planes. 

In this regard, Li Xiaoguang, an expert on intelligent unmanned systems at Qingdao University, told the Global Times that this is a routine action to prevent risks until the cause of the accident is known. 

"After many years of operation and use, the type of the aircraft itself should have no problems. Possible causes of the accident include whether maintenance and repairs met airworthiness requirements, whether the pilots made operating errors, or whether other human or special incident happened," he said. 

Boeing told the Global Times, "We are aware of the initial media reports and are working to gather more information."

The plane belongs to the 737NG series passenger aircraft, which is not the same as the previously grounded 737 MAX 8. 

The 737NG series passenger aircraft includes 737-600/700/800/900, and is currently one of the most widely used narrow-body passenger aircraft in the world. As of February 2022, Boeing's total production of the 737NG series reached 7,088.

Statistics show that there are more than 1,300 737NG aircraft in service in the Chinese mainland, which reportedly accounted for 37 percent of the total number of Chinese civil aviation fleets.

The crash has dealt a further blow to the aviation industry, which has suffered major losses during the epidemic, and the industry is eager for more government support to survive this bleak period.

After the accident, an unidentified number of flights departing from Kunming, Yunnan Province, operated by China Eastern Airlines Monday afternoon were canceled, including flights to Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, and Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province.

As of February 19, 2022, the continuous safe flight time of China's civil aviation had exceeded 100 million hours, the best safety performance in the history of China's civil aviation industry and the best continuous safe flight record in the history of civil aviation worldwide, according to the official website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Shares of China Eastern Airlines opened down around 9 percent in US trading, while Boeing stock lost 4 percent at Monday's opening.

China Eastern sets a zone at the airport in Guangzhou, the scheduled destination of the crashed flight, to receive family of victims. Photo: VCG