Fate of 132 souls onboard unknown
BEIJING: A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800NG plane carrying 132 people has crashed in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou, causing a mountain fire, in China’s south-western province of Guangxi, according to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s regional emergency management department.
China Eastern flight MU5735 was travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou, and Flightradar24 tracking website showed the aircraft taking a steep dip.
Local media reported that China Eastern flight MU5735 had not arrived at its scheduled destination in Guangzhou after it took off from the city of Kunming shortly after 1:00pm (0500 GMT) on Monday, citing airport staff.
The flight-tracking ended at 2:22pm (0622 GMT) an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots.
It had been due to land at 3:05pm (0705 GMT).
The Civil Aviation Administration of China confirmed the crash, saying there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.
Both China Eastern and Boeing were not immediately available for comment.
Aviation Safety Network’s website said this is the first fatal accident involving a 737-800 jet since Jan. 8, 2020. The China Eastern jet involved was six years old, according to Flightradar24.
Aviation Safety Network also said the last major incident at China Eastern was in June 2013 when an Embraer jet skidded off the runway while landing in Shanghai airport.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu said that this is the biggest aviation incident China has had in years.
Meanwhile China’s Civil Aviation Administration said it had despatched its investigators to the scene. – Agencies
