China Eastern B737-800 crash, prompting grounding of fleet

On 21 March 2022, China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735, a Boeing 737-800 (B-1791, msn 41474), crashed in a mountain range in Tengxian, Guangxi, China, killing all nine crew members and 123 passengers. It had left Kunming Changshui International Airport at 05:15 UTC (or 13:15 hours local time) on a domestic passenger service to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

ADS-B flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft at 29,100 feet (or 8,900 metres, the altitude system they use in China), flying along Airway 599 towards Guangzhou. ADS-B data released by Flightradar24 suggest the descent started between 06:20:43 and 06:20:59.

Altitude datapoints show the descent stopped about 06:22:00 around 7,400 feet and the aircraft climbed to about 8,600 feet, before the aircraft again entered a steep descent. The last recorded datapoint was at 06:22:35 at 3,225 feet.

CCTV footage and dashcam footage appeared to show the aircraft in an extremely steep descent before it crashed in a wooded mountainous area, located southwest of Wuzhou.

The Boeing entered a very steep descent (footage shows it going down in a ninety degree angle), with a rate of descent at impact of close to 31,000 feet per minute.

At the moment it is unknown what caused this rapid loss of altitude, and there are various reasons going around. The most important thing right now is to locate the FDR (Flight Data Recorder) and CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder), which will provide data as to what exactly happened. It is then up to the investigators to determine the cause of the accident.

Due to the crash, China Eastern Airlines has grounded its total 108-strong B737-800 fleet. The unfortunate aircraft had been delivered new to the airline in June 2015.

Photos via Twitter, Flightradar24