Report: Data Suggests Intentional Nosedive in China Eastern Plane Crash

Flight data reportedly indicates that someone in the cockpit of a China Eastern Airlines flight intentionally crashed the Boeing 737-800 on March 21, killing all 132 people on board, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Thom Patterson

Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 05:10 PM ET

Verified

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

Key Takeaways:

Preliminary assessments by U.S. officials, based on recovered flight data, indicate that someone on the flight deck intentionally crashed China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 in March.
The Boeing 737-800 plunged from 29,000 feet into a mountain in a near-vertical dive, killing all 132 people on board.
Earlier investigations by Chinese authorities had ruled out maintenance issues, adverse weather conditions, or problems with the flight crew's training as causes for the accident.
Both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the crash are being analyzed by the NTSB in Washington, D.C., as the investigation continues.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Recovered flight data reportedly indicates that someone on the flight deck of a China Eastern Airlines flight intentionally crashed the Boeing 737-800 last March 21, killing all 132 people on board, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The journal report cites “people familiar with U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident.”

During the 90-minute flight from Kunming to Guangzhou, China, the airliner went into a near vertical dive over a rural area, impacting a mountain so hard that it fragmented, leaving a crater 60 feet deep.