What Radar Data Reveals About the Final Minutes of the China Plane Crash

A China Eastern Airlines Corp. Boeing Co. 737-800NG plane carrying 132 passengers crashed in Guangxi, China’s southwestern province.
China Eastern flight MU5735 was travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou, according to FlightRadar24, and radar tracking shows the aircraft descending steeply.

Eyewitness videos shared on social media showed a forest fire on a mountainside near the alleged crash site. According to China Central Television, the fire caused by the crash has been extinguished.

In a show of respect, China Eastern’s website, mobile app, and some of its social media platforms were turned black and white.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, confirmed the crash, stating that there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.

According to CAAC, China Eastern lost contact with the aircraft over the city of Wuzhou. According to the regulator, an emergency response has been launched, and a working group has been dispatched to the scene.

China Eastern and Boeing representatives were not immediately available for comment.

We are following multiple unconfirmed reports about a possible accident involving China Eastern Airlines flight #MU5735 a Boeing 737-89P (B-1791) en route from Kunming to Guanghzou, China. pic.twitter.com/d8MhU7mZPv

— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) March 21, 2022

The China Eastern crash comes at an inopportune time for Boeing, which is preparing to re-enter its 737 Max into commercial service in the country, which has a thriving aviation industry. Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that Boeing had flown a Max to its completion and delivery centre in Zhoushan, China, for the first time since the model’s recertification.

Max Deliveries

China was the first major aviation market to ground the Max three years ago, following the second of two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in total, and it was also one of the last to allow it to re-enter service. The market is so large that Boeing’s plan to increase production further is contingent on the resumption of deliveries to China.

The plane that crashed on Monday was not a new-generation Boeing Max jet.

The 737-800 NG, or Next Generation, is a Boeing single-aisle aircraft that preceded the 737 Max. According to data compiled by Boeing at the time, the NG had one of the best safety records among jetliners as of 2018, with only eight fatal accidents out of more than 7,000 sold.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, this is the first fatal accident involving a 737-800 since January 8, 2020. According to FlightRadar, the China Eastern plane involved was six years old.

According to Aviation Safety Network, the most recent major incident at China Eastern occurred in June 2013, when an Embraer SA jet skidded off the runway while landing at Shanghai airport.

Prior to Monday’s fatal commercial accident, the most recent fatal commercial accident in China occurred in 2010, involving a Henan Airlines Co. Embraer jet, which killed 44 of the 96 people onboard.

The last fatal China Eastern crash occurred in 2004, when an airliner bound for Shanghai crashed in Inner Mongolia, killing 53 people on board and two on the ground. At the time, it was the worst aviation accident in China in 30 months.

Boeing shares fell 6.8 percent to $179.97 in pre-market trading in the United States. In late Hong Kong trading, shares of Shanghai-based China Eastern fell as much as 6.4 percent.