Plane flying from Kunming to Guangzhou
A China Eastern Airlines aircraft carrying 132 passengers from Kunming to Guangzhou in China crashed in Teng County, Wuzhou of Guangxi province and caused a mountain fire. Flight MU5735 left Kunming at 13:11 local time (05:11 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou at 15:05.
As per the data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane was only 6 - years old. It is the predecessor model of the Boeing 737 Max line, which were the plane involved in deadly crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019. China banned that model after those crashes.
Boeing issued a statement on the crash of MU5735, saying: "We are aware of the initial media reports and are working to gather more information."
Flight tracker FlightRadar24 showed that the Plane had sharply dropped from an altitude of 29,100 feet to 9,075 feet in 2.15 minutes. In another 20 seconds, its altitude was 3,225 feet, before flight information stopped. This decline in altitude, from crushing to landing, usually takes about 30 minutes.
A villager was telling a local site that the plane had "completely fallen apart" and he had seen nearby forest areas destroyed by a fire.
No survivors have been found as the searched continued Tuesday of the scattered wreckage of China Eastern Plane carrying 132 people that crashed a day earlier in a forested mountainous area in China's worst air disaster decade. "Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but up until now, none of those aboard the plane with whom contact was lost have been found," state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday morning, more than 18 hours after the crash.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he was shocked to learn about the crash and ordered an all - our search and rescue efforts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened at the tragedy. "Deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the crash of the passenger flight MU5735 with 132 on board in China's Guangxi," Modi tweeted. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the crash and their family members," he said.
China Eastern is one of the China's three major airline carriers. China's airline had recorded over 100 million continuous hours of safe flight as of February 19, according to Zou Tao, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration, the post reported. The last domestic fatal incident was in 2010, when a plane crashed in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, killing 42 people.
India's aviation safety regulator has ordered, "Enhanced surveillance" for Boeing 737 aircraft in India following the crash of one such plane in China on Monday, March 21.
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