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One Month After China Eastern Airlines Tragedy, Many Questions Remain

Investigation focuses on black boxes as airline resumes 737-800 flights.

China Eastern Airlines has returned its fleet of 737-800 aircraft to the air. [File photo: Shutterstock]
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Key Takeaways:

  • One month after the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 crash killed all 132 on board, investigators still don't know the cause, having ruled out issues with maintenance, weather, and pilot training.
  • Both black boxes (flight data and cockpit voice recorders) were recovered but are damaged, making it uncertain if useful information can be retrieved by the NTSB studying them.
  • China's CAAC is leading the investigation with international assistance, but a preliminary report has not been made public, and the final cause of the crash could potentially be kept confidential.
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It has been a month since the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 abruptly entered a nose dive and crashed, killing all 132 people on board—and investigators still don’t know why. 

According to a statement released Wednesday by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), there were no issues uncovered in a review of the aircraft’s maintenance records, and the weather at the time of the accident does not appear to be a factor. In previous reports, the CAAC noted the flight crew appeared to be well-trained, and there were no issues there either.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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