A Boeing 737 plane with 132 passengers crashed in mountains in China.
Chinese state television CGTN reported on Monday that the China Eastern Airlines plane from Kunming to Guangzhou had an “accident” in the Guangxi region and caused a fire on the mountains.
The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of victims was not immediately known. CGTN said rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.
Videos shared online, apparently of the crash, show a massive fire and huge steam flows bending from the mountain near Wuzhou in Teng County in southern China.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration confirmed the crash, saying there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.
We are pursuing some unconfirmed reports about a possible accident with 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
Expressing “shock” upon hearing the news of the crash, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out” efforts to organize search and rescue for passengers, state television reported.
The Boeing 737-800 took off at 13.11 local time, according to FlightRadar24. The flight pursuit stopped at 2.22am (6.22pm UK time), with the plane descending from 29,100ft to 3,225ft before disappearing at a speed of 376 knots a few miles southwest of Wuzhou. It should land at 3:05 p.m.
The site of the final signal was an area of tree-lined hills and remote villages close to the S40 motorway.
The jet, registered as B-1791, which first flew in 2015, was on the third flight of the day, previously flying from Kunming to Chongqing and back again before taking off on its flight to Guangzhou.
The twin-engine, single-speed Boeing 737 is one of the most popular aircraft in the world for short- and medium-term flights. China Eastern operates several versions of the common aircraft, including the 737-800 and the 737 Max.
The 737 Max version was created worldwide after two fatal accidents. China’s aviation regulator shut down the plane to return to services late last year, making the country the last major market to do so.
The Chinese website of China Eastern Airlines showed in black and white what airlines are doing in response to a crash as a sign of respect for the alleged victims.
China’s aviation industry safety record has been among the best in the world in the last decade.
The last fatal crash in the country was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people on board were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet, flown by Henan Airlines, crashed on the approach of Yichun airport in low visibility.
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