China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735

Last updated

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735
China Eastern Airlines - Boeing 737-800 - B-1791 - Yunnan peacock livery - Shanghai Hongqiao.jpg
B-1791, the aircraft involved in the accident, in 2018
Accident
Date21 March 2022 (2022-03-21)
SummaryCrashed into terrain, under investigation
SiteMolang Village, Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi, China
23°19′25.5″N111°06′44.3″E / 23.323750°N 111.112306°E / 23.323750; 111.112306 [1]
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 737-89P
Operator China Eastern Yunnan Airlines
IATA flight No.MU5735
ICAO flight No.CES5735
Call signCHINA EASTERN 5735
Registration B-1791
Flight origin Kunming Changshui International Airport
Destination Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
Occupants132
Passengers123
Crew9
Fatalities132
Survivors0

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Changshui International Airport, Kunming, to Baiyun International Airport, Guangzhou in China. At 14:23 CST (06:23 UTC) on 21 March 2022, [2] the Boeing 737-89P aircraft descended steeply mid-flight and struck the ground at high speed in Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi, killing all 132 passengers and crew on board. Multiple reports say that the airplane was deliberately crashed, but the official investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is ongoing. [3] [4] [5] [6] It is the third deadliest air crash in China after China Southern Airlines Flight 3943 in 1992 and China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 in 1994, the deadliest air accident in China Eastern Airlines' history, and the deadliest plane crash in 2022. [7]

Contents

Flight

Flight path (data from Flightradar24)
Interactive map (map data) China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 flight path.svg
Flight path (data from Flightradar24)
Interactive map (map data)
Crash site, 22 March Dong Hang MU5735Ban Ji Zhui Hui Xian Chang .jpg
Crash site, 22 March

The aircraft departed Kunming Changshui International Airport for Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 13:15 (05:15 UTC) [7] and was scheduled to land at 15:05 (07:05 UTC). [8] The aircraft was 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. [9] [10]

Contact with the aircraft was lost over the city of Wuzhou. [11] At 14:22 (06:22 UTC), while approaching its top of descent into Guangzhou, the aircraft entered a sudden steep descent from 29,100 feet (8,900 m). It briefly leveled off and climbed from 7,400 ft (2,300 m) to 9,225 ft (2,812 m), but then plunged downwards again, reaching a final recorded altitude of 3,225 ft (983 m) at 376 kn (696 km/h) less than two minutes after the beginning of the descent, with a maximum descent rate of above 32,000 feet (9,800 m) per minute. [12]

At 14:23 (06:23 UTC), [2] the aircraft lost signal and crashed in the mountainous regions of Teng County causing a fire in nearby vegetation. [7] [13] [14] According to an astronautics and aeronautics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, preliminary data indicated the aircraft traveled close to the speed of sound when it crashed. Data from Flightradar24 suggest it was traveling at speeds of 640 km/h (400 mph) and may have exceeded 1,126 km/h (700 mph) at the time of impact. [15] The aircraft's impact into the ground created a crater 100 ft (30 m) wide and 66 ft (20 m) deep, where most of the wreckage was discovered. [16]

The footage of the aircraft plummeting to the ground Donghang-resize.gif
The footage of the aircraft plummeting to the ground

Residents of the villages surrounding the crash site heard a loud explosion. [17] The final descent and crash was recorded by a security camera at the premises of a local mining company. [18] The video showed the plane in a near vertical dive seconds before it struck the ground. Footage from the crash site showed wreckage and a fire. Many smaller pieces of wreckage were scattered in the surrounding area. [19] All of the plane's occupants died. [20] It was the first fatal crash involving China Eastern Airlines since November 2004's Flight 5210. [21] [22]

Some information channels such as at Kunming Changshui International Airport and Umetrip temporarily showed the flight had arrived due to not registering the flight's loss of contact. Others showed "loss of contact", "unknown", or a blanked-out status. [23] [24] [25]

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-89P [a] (737NG or 737 Next Generation) registered as B-1791 with serial number 41474. It was powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B26E turbofan engines. [7] It first flew on 5 June 2015 and was delivered new to China Eastern Yunnan Airlines (subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines) on 25 June 2015. [7] It was painted in the airline's Yunnan Peacock livery.[ citation needed ]

The 737-800 has a solid safety record, with 11 previous fatal accidents (the first in September 2006) out of more than 7,000 planes delivered since 1997. [26]

Passengers and crew

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the airline reported 123 passengers and 9 crew members to be on the flight, for a total of 132 people. [27] [28] All were Chinese. [29] The occupants involved 74 families across 17 provinces of China. [30]

The flight crew consisted of three pilots, five flight attendants and an in-flight security guard. The pilots are:

Emergency response and recovery

Local authorities dispatched 450 firefighters to the scene of the accident. [34] Firefighters were dispatched by the Wuzhou Fire and Rescue Department at 15:05. At 15:56, firefighters from nearby Tangbu arrived, and at 16:40, firefighters from outside Wuzhou were dispatched from Guilin, Beihai, Hezhou, Laibin and Hechi. [35]

The recovered cockpit voice recorder, 23 March 2022 Dong Hang MU5735Ban Ji Di Yi Bu Hei Xia Zi Xun Huo Xian Chang Black box of crashed flight MU5735 retrieved.jpg
The recovered cockpit voice recorder, 23 March 2022

Rescue crews initially had difficulty accessing the site because of the forest fire which was extinguished by 17:25. [36] By evening, 117 out of 650 dispatched rescuers were nearby and headed to the site from three directions. [37] Aircraft wreckage and victims' belongings were found, but no signs of human remains were detected. [38] [39] Workers used hand equipment, detection dogs and UAVs to search for the flight recorders and human remains, finding one flight recorder on 23 March. [31] [40] The crash site was concentrated within a 30-metre (100 ft) radius where most of the wreck was found. [41] Major components such as the horizontal stabilizers, vertical tails, rudders, left and right engines, left and right wings, fuselage parts, landing gear and cockpit were recovered from the area. [1] Rescue workers found a 1.3-metre-long (4 ft 3 in) fragment of a wing trailing edge about 12 kilometres (7 mi) from the main site. [1] [42]

Wet weather and the challenging accessibility of the crash site hampered the recovery process. Heavy rain partially filled the impact crater with water which had to be pumped away. [43] Recovery activities were suspended on the morning of 23 March because of the threat of landslides. [40] The remains of all 132 aircraft occupants were positively identified by 29 March. [44] [45] As of 31 March 2022, at least 49,117 pieces of airplane wreckage had been recovered. [46]

Investigation

Initial investigation

Search and rescue teams working on the scene, 25 March 2022 MU5735 3Yue 25Ri ,Sou Jiu Sou Suo Xian Chang On March 25, the search continues.jpg
Search and rescue teams working on the scene, 25 March 2022

The CAAC enabled an emergency task force and dispatched a team to the crash site. [27] Liu Ning, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in Guangxi, visited the crash site and ordered an "all-out" search and rescue operation. He was accompanied by the director of Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guangxi and other officials. [47]

American agencies responded as representatives of the country where the aircraft was manufactured. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was ready to assist in investigation efforts if requested. [48] Boeing said that it was informed by initial reports and was gathering details. [48] The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a senior official had been appointed as its representative to the inquiry. [49] Representatives from CFM International, Boeing, and the FAA were assigned as technical advisers in the probe. [49] United States Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said on 23 March 2022 that Chinese authorities had invited the NTSB to take part in the investigation. [50] COVID-19 quarantine regulations may have hampered access of U.S. investigators to mainland China. [50] [31] On 29 March 2022, the NTSB announced that China had granted visas to the agency and the technical advisors from Boeing, engine manufacturer CFM and the FAA. [51]

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was found on 23 March 2022, severely damaged externally, but the internal storage unit appeared to be relatively intact. [31] [32] It was sent to Beijing for data extraction. [52] [53] The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) was retrieved on 26 March, [54] and on 27 March, the flight data recorder (FDR) was recovered. It had been buried 1.5 metres (5 ft) deep in the soil and appeared slightly dented but was intact. [55] The two flight recorders were sent to a facility in Washington, D.C. for analysis. [56] Concurrently, on 1 April 2022, a team of NTSB investigators left the United States for China. [57]

Mao Yanfeng, head of aircraft investigation at the CAAC, stated the flight had not encountered dangerous weather conditions. [58] No components of common explosives were detected. [44] Chinese leadership called for open, timely and transparent publication of information about the crash. The CAAC published a preliminary report on 20 April 2022, 30 days after the accident. [59] [60] Soon after the accident, it was suggested that catastrophic failure of the tailplane (for example, a stabilizer problem) and sabotage (such as a pilot intentionally crashing) were two of the possibilities regarding the cause of the crash. [58] On 24 March 2022, a piece of the jet was discovered about 10 km (6 mi) from the crash site, initially giving weight to the theory of a mid-air breakup. [61] However, Chinese authorities later confirmed that it was a winglet, whose loss should not severely impair airworthiness, and which is lightweight enough to either have flown to the ground in the wind or broke-up during the descent. [62]

Preliminary report

On 20 April 2022, CAAC released a preliminary report regarding the accident, stating that "there was no abnormality in the radio communication and control command between the crew and the air traffic control department before deviating from the cruise altitude." It was reported that the plane was airworthy, up to date on inspections, that all personnel met requirements, that weather was fine, and that no dangerous goods were found. Both aircraft recorders were severely damaged and were sent to Washington for further investigation. [60]

On the eve of the first anniversary in March 2023, the CAAC released an unusually short [63] interim statement that the investigation is ongoing due to the "very complicated and very rare" nature of the accident. [64] As of March 2024, no final report has been released. The CAAC released a statement in March 2024 reiterating preliminary findings from the previous year that there were no issues with the aircraft and crew. [65]

Media reports of the investigation

Early reports of the aircraft's flight data recorder pointed towards a deliberate crash from the cockpit. Flight controls were pushed to put the plane into a dive. This led the investigation toward the pilot or the possibility of a cockpit breach. China Eastern noted the unlikeliness of anyone breaching the cockpit, as an emergency code was not broadcast. Chinese authorities are not pointing to issues regarding mechanical or flight control problems. [4] [5] [6]

On 17 May 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported a source from the US government, from officials involved in the investigation, as saying that the plane had been intentionally crashed, based on an analysis of data from the aircraft recorders. [66] [6] News reports published by ABC News on the same day concurred with the Wall Street Journal's report of the investigating officials in the US government declaring that the aircraft had been deliberately put into a vertical dive by a person on the flight deck, also citing flight recorder data showing that the landing gear and flaps had evidently not been engaged or deployed during the aircraft's descent which would indicate the pilots attempting an emergency descent or landing. [67]

Multiple reports also mentioned that in the moments just before and during the descent, there were no distress or mayday calls from the cockpit to air traffic control nor any answers to the attempts from air traffic control and nearby aircraft to make contact with the aircraft. A video was released to the public on the day of the accident, showing the aircraft entering a steep dive before slamming into a hilly area. [68] [69]

Interim report

On 20 March 2024, the Civil Aviation Administration of China published an interim update, according to which "no anomalies" had been found, all activities and procedures adhered to the prescribed protocols, ground crew including the air traffic control personnel were found competent, and navigation equipment were working as expected. [70] Officials further stated they would update the report as more information becomes available. The report was published one day before the second anniversary of the crash. [71]

Reactions

Domestic

Chinese premier Li Keqiang called for comprehensive efforts to search for survivors and treat the injured, emphasizing the need to reassure and serve the families of the victims. Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for investigators to determine the cause as soon as possible and to ensure "absolute" aviation safety. [72] Over 1,000 psychology staff were dispatched to provide aid and emotional support to the families of the victims. [45]

China Eastern established a hotline for family members [73] and announced that its Boeing 737-800 fleet would be grounded for inspection until the investigation was completed. [28] Most of the airline's 737-800s eventually returned to service in April 2022. [74]

VariFlight reported that nearly 74 percent of the 11,800 flights scheduled in China on 22 March were cancelled as a result of the crash. A majority of flight services between Beijing and Shanghai were cancelled. Cancellation rates in China were the highest of 2022. [75] Nearly 89 percent of all China Eastern flights were cancelled on 22 March. [76]

News concerning the crash was heavily censored in China. 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. After officials initially failed to answer basic questions about the plane and its pilots, they were accused by online commentators of "rainbow farts," an idiom for excessive praise. Articles and social media posts that asked more detailed questions were deleted by censors. Faced with mounting pressure, officials eventually provided information on the maintenance history of the plane, the pilots' flight experience, and weather conditions at the time of the crash. [77]

Within two hours of the crash, twenty people claimed to have "survived" by not boarding the flight. Local media found only two of these claims to be genuine. [78]

International

A number of world leaders expressed condolences for the loss of life incurred. [79]

In India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) placed all Boeing 737 aircraft flown by Indian carriers under "enhanced surveillance." SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express have the aircraft in their fleets. An official from the regulatory body said that "safety is serious business" and that the situation was being closely monitored. [80]

On U.S. stock markets, Boeing shares initially fell by 7.8 percent and China Eastern shares by 8.2 percent after the incident. [81] [28] On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Eastern shares dropped by 6.5 percent. [81]

Boeing offered its condolences to the families of the victims and said that it was in contact with China Eastern and the NTSB. [82]

See also

Notes

  1. The aircraft's base model is the Boeing 737–800. "9P" is the Boeing customer code for China Eastern, used to identify detailed variations or options requested by particular customers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport</span> Secondary airport serving Shanghai, China

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is one of two international airports of Shanghai, the largest city by population in China, and a significant airline hub of the country. Hongqiao Airport mainly serves domestic and regional flights, although the airport also serves selected international flights. The airport is located near the town of Hongqiao in the outskirts of Changning and Minhang districts, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west of downtown, and is closer to the city center than the area's primary international airport, Shanghai–Pudong.

Air China Limited (中国国际航空公司) is a major Chinese airline and is the flag carrier airline of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing. The airline offers both domestic and international flights to different destinations around China and the world.

China Eastern Airlines is a major airline in China, headquartered in Changning, Shanghai. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XiamenAir</span> Airline of China; based in Xiamen, Fujian

Xiamen Airlines, is an airline based in Xiamen, Fujian, China. XiamenAir has its northern headquarters in Beijing and eight branches in Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Hunan, Beijing, Quanzhou, Chongqing and Shanghai, and two subsidiaries in Hebei Airlines and Jiangxi Airlines. Founded on July 25, 1984, XiamenAir is the first airline in China to operate independently as an enterprise. It was established as a joint venture between the Shanghai Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of China, Xiamen Special Economic Zone Construction Development Company and Fujian Investment Enterprise Company. The shareholders are China Southern Airlines Corporation (55%), Xiamen C&D Group (34%) and Fujian Investment and Development Group (11%). The current chairman of XiamenAir is Zhao Dong and the general manager is Wang Zhixue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210</span> 2004 aviation accident

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 (CES5210/MU5210), also known as the Baotou Air Disaster, was a flight from Baotou Erliban Airport in Inner Mongolia, China, to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, with a planned stopover at Beijing Capital International Airport. On 21 November 2004, just two minutes after takeoff, the Bombardier CRJ200ER fell from the sky and crashed into a lake in Nanhai Park, next to the airport, killing all 53 people on board and two more on the ground.

China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, is an airline based in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is the subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, and was formerly known as China Yunnan Airlines, whose headquarters were on the property of Wujiaba Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil Aviation Administration of China</span> Government agency for civil aviation in China

The Civil Aviation Administration of China is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents.

China United Airlines (CUA) is a low-cost airline and a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines. It is headquartered at Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garuda Indonesia Flight 200</span> 2007 passenger plane crash in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200(GA200/GIA 200) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-400 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft overran the runway, crashed into a rice field and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on 7 March 2007. Twenty passengers and one flight attendant were killed. Both pilots survived, and were fired shortly after the accident occurred. It was the fifth hull-loss of a Boeing 737 in Indonesia within less than six months and was the most recent accident with fatalities involving the airline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 821</span> 2008 Boeing 737-500 crash in Russia

Aeroflot-Nord Flight 821 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot and as its subsidiary. On 14 September 2008, the aircraft operating the flight crashed on approach to Perm International Airport at 5:10 local time (UTC+06). All 82 passengers and six crew members were killed. Among the passengers who were killed was Russian Colonel General Gennady Troshev, an adviser to the President of Russia who had been the commander of the North Caucasus Military District during the Second Chechen War. A section of the Trans-Siberian Railway was damaged by the crash. Flight 821 is the deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737-500, surpassing the 1993 crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 733, and was the second-deadliest aviation accident in 2008, behind Spanair Flight 5022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comac C919</span> Chinese medium-range narrowbody airliner

The Comac C919 is a narrow-body airliner developed by Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac. The development program was launched in 2008. Production began in December 2011, with the first prototype being rolled out on 2 November 2015; the maiden flight took place on 5 May 2017. On 29 September 2022 the C919 received its CAAC type certificate. The first production airframe was delivered to China Eastern Airlines on 9 December 2022 and was put into commercial passenger service on 28 May 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409</span> 2010 aviation accident

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was an international commercial flight scheduled from Beirut to Addis Ababa that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Rafic Hariri International Airport on 25 January 2010, killing all 90 people on board. This was the first fatal crash for Ethiopian Airlines since the hijack of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henan Airlines Flight 8387</span> 2010 aviation accident

Henan Airlines Flight 8387 was a domestic flight operated by Henan Airlines from Harbin to Yichun, China. On the night of 24 August 2010, the Embraer E190 operating the route crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu Airport in fog. 44 of the 96 people on board were killed. It was the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Embraer E190 and as of 2024, the deadliest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing 737 MAX</span> Single-aisle airliner family by Boeing

The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with the Airbus A320neo family. The series was announced in August 2011, first flown in January 2016, and certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in March 2017. The first 737 MAX delivered to a customer was a MAX 8 to Malindo Air, which accepted and began operating the aircraft in May 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363</span> November 2013 aircraft accident in Kazan, Russia

Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight, operated by Tatarstan Airlines on behalf of Ak Bars Aero, from Moscow to Kazan, Russia. On 17 November 2013, at 19:24 local time (UTC+4), the Boeing 737-500 crashed during an aborted landing at Kazan International Airport, killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flydubai Flight 981</span> 2016 aircraft crash in Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Flydubai Flight 981 (FZ981/FDB981) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Rostov-on-Don, Russia. On 19 March 2016, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating the flight crashed during a go-around, killing all 62 passengers and crew on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302</span> 2019 plane crash near Bishoftu, Ethiopia

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. On 10 March 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which operated the flight crashed near the town of Bishoftu six minutes after takeoff. All 149 passengers and 8 crew members on board died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing 737 MAX groundings</span> 2019–20 worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX

The Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020 and again in 2024 – after 346 people died in two similar crashes in less than five months: Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration initially affirmed the MAX's continued airworthiness, claiming to have insufficient evidence of accident similarities. By March 13, the FAA followed behind 51 concerned regulators in deciding to ground the aircraft. All 387 aircraft delivered to airlines were grounded by March 18.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Guānyú "3•21" dōngháng MU5735 hángkōngqì fēixíng shìgù diàochá bàogào de qíngkuàng tōngbào" 关于“3•21”东航MU5735航空器飞行事故调查初步报告的情况通报 [Briefing on the preliminary report on the investigation of the "3·21" China Eastern Airlines MU5735 aircraft flight accident]. Civil Aviation Administration of China (in Chinese). 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 "载133人东航客机广西梧州坠毁,2分钟从8000米坠落地面" (in Chinese). 中新网. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  3. "China Eastern crash probe looks into crew actions: Report". Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 Haipert, Madeline. "Black Box Data Reportedly Suggest China Eastern Jet Crash Was Intentional". Forbes. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 Larkin, Catherine; Laing, Keith (17 May 2022). "China Eastern Plane Crash Data Suggest Intentional Dive, WSJ Says". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Flight data from China Eastern jet points to intentional nosedive -WSJ". Reuters. 17 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Ranter, Harro (21 March 2022). "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  8. Jiaxing, Kong, ed. (21 March 2022). "Yī tú kàn dǒng dōngháng MU5735 zhuìhuǐ shìgù" 一图看懂东航MU5735坠毁事故 [One picture to understand the China Eastern Airlines MU5735 crash]. The Paper (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  9. "Flight history for China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735". Flightradar24. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  10. Yun, Wang, ed. (22 March 2022). "MU5735今早临时取消保山飞昆明航段" [MU5735 temporarily canceled the Baoshan to Kunming segment this morning]. Spring City Evening News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  11. "China Eastern Boeing 737 Jet Crashes With More Than 130 on Board". Bloomberg News . 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. Petchenik, Ian (21 March 2022). "China Eastern Airlines flight 5735 crashes en route to Guangzhou". Flightradar24. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  13. "广西消防:发现客机残骸碎片,尚未发现遇难者遗体" [Guangxi Fire Department: Fragments of passenger plane wreckage were found, but the remains of the victims have not yet been found]. j.eastday.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  14. Choi, Joseph (21 March 2022). "Chinese airliner carrying 132 people crashes". The Hill . Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  15. Schlangenstein, Mary; Levin, Alan (24 March 2022). "China Eastern jet neared speed of sound before crash, damaging black box". The Japan Times. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  16. Yiu, Karson; Hutchinson, Bill. "Search goes on for 2nd black box in China Eastern Airlines crash". ABC News. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  17. "MU5735空难7小时后 尚未找到遇难者遗体" [7 hours after the MU5735 air crash, the remains of the victims have not been found]. Southern Weekly (in Chinese). Phoenix New Media. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  18. Millson, Alex (21 March 2022). "Here's Everything We Know About the China Plane Crash So Far". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  19. "Video reportedly shows aftermath of passenger plane crash in China". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  20. "No survivors found in China Eastern plane crash, state media says". CBS News. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  21. Moss, Trefor (22 March 2022). "Chinese Plane Crash Follows Rapid Growth at Airline Without Safety Incidents". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022.
  22. McDonald, Joe (22 March 2022). "China Eastern Crash Is Rare Disaster for State-Run Airlines". U.S. News & World Report . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  23. Pengwei, Guan (21 March 2022). "网传昆明飞广州航班MU5735出现骤降?航旅纵横显示航班已到达,飞常准、携程显示该航班失联,橙柿正在进一步了解" [According to the Internet, flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou experienced a sudden drop? Hanglv Zongheng shows that the flight has arrived, Feichang Zhun and Ctrip show that the flight has lost contact, and Orange Persimmon is looking into it further] (in Chinese). Hangzhou Net. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  24. Mingliang, He (21 March 2022). "MU5735搭载133人广西藤县发生事故,昆明长水机场不知情:2点57分已到达" [MU5735 carrying 133 people had an accident in Teng County, Guangxi, and Kunming Changshui Airport did not know: it arrived at 2:57]. Times Finance (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  25. Xinran, Ye (21 March 2022). "未抵达的MU5735 东航空难时间线" [Unarrived MU5735 China Eastern Airlines crash timeline]. The Economic Observer (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022. 目前航旅纵横APP上显示的该航班状态显示为:失事。[At present, the status of the flight displayed on the Hanglv Zongheng APP is displayed as: Crash.]
  26. "Previous crashes may give clues to China jet's mystery plunge". The Times of India, Bloomberg . 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  27. 1 2 "东航一架波音737飞机坠毁民航局已启动应急机制" [A Boeing 737 of China Eastern Airlines crashed, the Civil Aviation Administration has activated the emergency mechanism] (in Chinese). Civil Aviation Administration of China. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. 机上人员共132人,其中旅客123人、机组9人[There were 132 people on board, including 123 passengers and 9 crew members.]
  28. 1 2 3 Birsel, Robert (21 March 2022). "Chinese Boeing jet crashes in mountains with 132 on board, no sign of survivors". Reuters . Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  29. Chen, Zhenglu (22 March 2022). "央視:東航失事航班沒有外籍乘客" [CCTV: There are no foreign passengers on the crashed China Eastern flight]. United Daily News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022. Regarding whether there were any Taiwanese on board, the Taiwan branch of China Eastern Airlines told this newspaper earlier, "It is not convenient for me to answer your question, but I have already forwarded it to the headquarters."
  30. "Mínháng jú: Jiēdài shī lián rényuán lái wú jiāshǔ 493 rén, shè 17 shěng 74 hù jiātíng" 民航局:接待失联人员来梧家属493人,涉17省74户家庭 [Civil Aviation Administration: 493 family members of missing persons were received in Wuhan, involving 74 families in 17 provinces]. Southern Metropolis Daily (in Chinese). Tencent. 26 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  31. 1 2 3 4 Yu, Elaine; Tangel, Andrew (23 March 2022). "A Black Box From China Eastern Airlines Plane Crash Is Found". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022. The black box's exterior was severely damaged but its storage unit remained 'relatively intact'
  32. 1 2 "Black box from crashed China Eastern plane found in 'severely damaged' condition". The National . 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  33. Fan, Wenxin (24 March 2022). "At Controls of Crashed China Eastern Jet: One of Country's First Commercial Pilots". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  34. White, Edward; McMorrow, Ryan; Olcott, Eleanor (21 March 2022). "Passenger plane crashes in southern China". Financial Times . Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  35. "滚动丨最新!发现客机残骸碎片,尚未发现遇难者遗体" [Scroll丨Latest! Debris of airliner wreckage found, no remains of victims]. resource.cloudgx.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  36. "东航客机坠毁引发的森林火灾已扑灭" [Forest fire caused by China Eastern Airlines plane crash has been extinguished] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  37. "China Eastern Airlines passenger jet crashes with 132 people on board". ABC News. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  38. "广西消防:发现客机残骸碎片 尚未发现遇难者遗体". People's Daily client. Xinhua News Agency. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  39. Cai, Jane (22 March 2022). "China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735: debris and belongings recovered but search for survivors continues". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  40. 1 2 "Search at China plane crash site suspended amid rain and landslide fears". PA Media . TheJournal.ie. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  41. Pollard, Martin Quin (24 March 2022). "China examines cockpit voice recorder from crashed airliner". Reuters . Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  42. Levin, Alan (25 March 2022). "Pieces fell off China crash plane in mid-air". Australian Financial Review . Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  43. Law, Elizabeth (24 March 2022). "One black box from China Eastern plane found, along with some human remains". The Straits Times . Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  44. 1 2 "China confirms all on board China Eastern plane died in crash". Reuters. 26 March 2022. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022 via www.reuters.com.
  45. 1 2 Seung, Jae (29 March 2022). "All 132 victims of China Eastern Airlines crash identified through DNA testing". Arirang TV . Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  46. "Search finds 49,000 pieces of plane in China Eastern crash". Associated Press . 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  47. "广西自治区党委书记刘宁已赶赴现场,要求全力搜救" [Liu Ning, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Autonomous Region, has rushed to the scene and asked for all-out search and rescue]. Hangzhou News (in Chinese). 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  48. 1 2 Cheng, Evelyn; Gilchrist, Karen; Josephs, Leslie (21 March 2022). "Boeing 737 passenger jet crashes in China with 132 people on board". CNBC . Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  49. 1 2 "US names investigator as representative to China Boeing 737–800 crash probe". Channel NewsAsia. Reuters. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  50. 1 2 "China finds first black box from crashed jet, U.S. discussing quarantine for investigators". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Reuters. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022.
  51. "US officials can travel to China to aid crash investigation". Associated Press. 29 March 2022. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  52. 黑匣子初判为舱音记录器 已被连夜送京译码 [It has been found that the black box is initially determined to be a cockpit voice recorder] (in Chinese). CAAC News. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022 via Sina News. The black box was sent overnight to a professional civil aviation agency in Beijing for decoding. The download and decoding of the recorder data takes time, and may take longer if the internal storage unit is damaged.
  53. "Black box found from crashed China Eastern Jet – Chinese aviation regulator". Reuters. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  54. "China found the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT)". Newsnpr. 26 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  55. "Second 'black box' found in China Eastern plane crash". ABC News. Associated Press. 27 March 2022. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  56. "U.S. experts analyzing black boxes from China Eastern Boeing 737 that nose-dived into mountainside killing 132". CBS News . 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  57. "Voice recorder in Chinese crash comes to D.C. as U.S. investigators head to China". The Washington Post. 1 April 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  58. 1 2 Mao, Frances (24 March 2022). "China Eastern crash: What do we know so far?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  59. "China's top leadership says cause of plane crash must be found soon". Reuters. 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  60. 1 2 "Damaged black boxes in China jet crash leave few clues into cause". Reuters . 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  61. Levin, Alan (25 March 2022) [24 March 2022]. "China Crash Mystery Grows as Evidence Signals Midair". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  62. "A Flight Over China in Clear Skies, Followed by a Nosedive". The New York Times . 4 April 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  63. "Beijing still seeking answers a year after China Eastern plane crash". Reuters. 21 March 2023. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  64. Waldron, Greg (21 March 2023). "CAAC issues brief statement on anniversary of China Eastern 737 crash". Flight Global. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  65. Gan, Nectar (21 March 2024). "Two years after air disaster, Chinese investigators offer no clues as to why jet nosedived". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  66. "China Eastern Black Box Points to Intentional Nosedive". Wall Street Journal. 17 May 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  67. Benitez, Gio; Margolin, Josh; Maile, Amanda. "Chinese plane crash that killed 132 caused by intentional act: US officials". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  68. NBC News Today (18 May 2022), China Eastern Plane Crash May Have Been Intentional, Reports Say, archived from the original on 18 May 2022, retrieved 18 May 2022
  69. "China Eastern probe eyes intentional action, sources say", YouTube, Reuters, 18 May 2022, archived from the original on 18 May 2022, retrieved 18 May 2022
  70. Wangshu, Luo (21 March 2024). "Investigation into deadly crash finds no anomalies". China Daily. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  71. Wangshu, Luo (20 March 2024). "'No anomalies found' in China Eastern flight crash". China Daily. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  72. "Live Updates: China Eastern Plane Crashes in Remote Mountain Valley". The New York Times . 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. China's top leader, Xi Jinping, quickly issued a statement calling for rescuers to do their utmost and "handle the aftermath in a proper manner."
  73. Vinopal, Courtney (21 March 2022). "How Boeing is responding to the 737–800 crash in China". Quartz News . Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  74. Strumpf, Dan (18 April 2022). "China Eastern Resumes Flights of Boeing 737 Model Involved in Crash". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  75. "Chinese air travel faces mass cancellations after plane crash". The Straits Times . 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  76. "China Eastern faces losses, regulatory scrutiny after fatal crash". Al Jazeera . Reuters. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  77. Ramzy, Austin (23 March 2022). "China Finds Flight Recorder From Plane Crash as Rain Hinders Search". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  78. Shangyou News (21 March 2022). "没登机的"幸运儿"有20多位?东航MU5735坠机后,这些消息都是假的!" [Are there more than 20 "lucky ones" who didn't board the plane? After the crash of China Eastern Airlines MU5735, these news are all fake!]. Sina Finance (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  79. "World leaders express sympathy for Chinese air crash victims". South China Morning Post. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  80. "India Puts Boeing 737 Fleets On 'Enhanced Surveillance' After China Plane Crash". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  81. 1 2 Jain, Devik (21 March 2022). "Futures edge lower, Boeing shares fall after 737 crash". Reuters . Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  82. "Boeing Statement on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735". MediaRoom. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.