Update: China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crashes in China, state media reports (Video)
Update 14: 45: "The plane is usually on autopilot during the cruise stage. So it is very difficult to understand what happened, "said Li Xiaojin, a Chinese aviation expert. "Technically, that shouldn't have happened."
Initial news 11:00: A Boeing 737-800 China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) plane with 133 people on board crashed on Monday in the mountains of southern China, during internal flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, state media reported.
The plane involved in the crash was a Boeing 737-800 (registered B-1791), and the death toll was not immediately known, CCTV said. The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) confirmed the accident and said that there were 123 passengers and 9 crew members on board. CAAC sent a team to the spot.
25 fire engines and 117 firefighters were sent to the scene. An official from the Wuzhou Fire Brigade, who deployed a rescue team to the scene of the crash of China flight MU5735, said a total of 25 fire engines and 117 firefighters were working to find the survivors. "Because the crash site is too far away in the mountains, fire engines could not reach the wreckage, and firefighters were walking," he told the Chinese state-affiliated Global Times.
引发 的 山火。
- iPaul🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@iPaulCanada) March 21, 2022
是 航班 号 是 MU5735 ， 机型 为 波音 737-800 ， 服役 不到 7 年。 pic.twitter.com/VtvsNqOyWR
3 月 21 日 ， 东 港 一架 昆明 飞 广州 的 波音 737 客机 ， 搭载 乘客 133 人 ， 在 广西 藤县 坠毁。 pic.twitter.com/np3YwMr5Zc
- iPaul🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@iPaulCanada) March 21, 2022
The China Eastern Airlines flight from Kunming to Guangzhou took off at 13:11 (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed. The flight ended at 2:22 pm (0622 GMT) at an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots.
The plane involved was a Boeing 737-800NG model, indicative B-1791, about 6 years old. It is a young plane, a model that can be found in the fleets of hundreds of airlines.
Surely the investigators will have a very difficult mission and probably many answers will be given by the black boxes. We will be back with information!
The news is being updated