(CNN) - A China Eastern Airlines jetliner carrying 132 people crashed in the mountains in southern China's Guangxi region on Monday afternoon, according to the country's Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC).
The Boeing 737 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou when it lost contact over the city of Wuzhou. On board were 123 passengers and nine crew members, CAAC said in a statement posted online.
China Eastern Airlines confirmed those details and said it had activated emergency procedures, including a line for emergency assistance for family members.
Rescue efforts are underway at the scene of the crash, but there were no immediate details on the possible cause or the number of casualties.
China Eastern offered its condolences to those who were killed in the incident, without confirming any death toll.
"The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation. The company expresses its sorrowful condolences to the passengers and crew members who died in this plane crash," the airline said in a statement.
Boeing said in a statement it was "aware of the initial media reports and working to gather more information."
Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed the country's emergency services to "organize a search and rescue" operation and "identify the causes of the accident," state media reported.
"After the accident, President Xi Jinping immediately made instructions to start the emergency mechanism, organize search and rescue, and properly deal with the aftermath," state broadcaster CCTV said.
The aircraft lost contact with emergency services before "suddenly descending" around 2.19 p.m., Chinese government officials and state media reported Monday.
"A China Eastern plane (flight number MU5735) lost contact at 2.15 pm ... Rescue teams are on the way to ground zero, and rescue work is being laid out in order," the Guangxi Emergency Management Department said in a statement.
The plane's altitude dropped from 8,869 meters (29,098 feet) to 1,333.5 meters (4,375 feet) in the span of three minutes, state news agency China News Service reported, citing VariFlight, a Chinese technology company that provides civil aviation data services.
Hours after the accident, CCTV reported that the airline was grounding all its Boeing 737-800s and that the aircraft currently in the air would "not carry more flights after landing."
CCTV also reported that rescue efforts could be hampered by bad weather and limited accessibility to the site.
Heavy rescue equipment was unable to reach the scene -- which lacks electricity -- as it is surrounded by mountains on three sides and accessible only through a narrow path, CCTV said, citing the Guangxi Wuzhou fire department.
Separately, Guangxi Meteorological Bureau warned that the rescue effort could be hindered by an incoming cold front that would see heavy rainfall and a temperature drop in Tengxian County, where the crash site is.
In an interview with state media outlet Beijing Youth Daily, an eyewitness described seeing a plane "falling directly from the sky in front of him around 2 p.m."
"The plane fell vertically from the sky. Although I was very far away, I could still see that it was a plane. The plane did not smoke during the fall. The fire started after it fell into the mountain, followed by a lot of smoke," the witness, who was only identified by his surname, Liu, said.
"My heart was thumping. I immediately informed friends about the situation, that this area is dangerous and not to come nearby," Liu continued.
In a separate interview with China News Service, a resident from Molang village in Tengxian county -- close to the scene of the crash -- reported seeing "wings and pieces of the plane, as well as pieces of clothing hanging from trees."
The witness -- whose name was not published -- told state media he drove his motorcycle to the crash site after hearing "a huge explosion" around 2.40 pm to "see if he could participate in the rescue." The onlooker added that the accident caused "about 10 acres of fire," according to his visual estimates.
Video showing what appears to be a plane falling nose first from the sky circulated widely on Chinese social media Monday, before being picked up and published by state media.
Footage posted online and shared by state media outlet People's Daily show plumes of smoke billowing from a mountainous, forested area. Another clip shows what appears to be wreckage from the plane on a muddy mountain path.
The colors on the Boeing and China Eastern Airlines websites were changed to black and white in China, as a sign of respect in response to the crash.
My Boeing stock really killing it after all the 737 crashes..at least this isn’t the MAX..
That video though..no smoke and no fire etc. when would a plane ever go nose first into the ground like that outside of purposefully guided by the pilot
Qmx323
03-21-2022 09:44 AM
So sad, but true.
Really hoping this isn't what it seems like.
hud 91gt
03-21-2022 10:55 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondaracer
(Post 9058514)
My Boeing stock really killing it after all the 737 crashes..at least this isn’t the MAX..
That video though..no smoke and no fire etc. when would a plane ever go nose first into the ground like that outside of purposefully guided by the pilot
Stall, with a really bad recovery... or a control failure. (Likely option B). Honestly it could be anything. Explosive decompression, causing crew injury/unconsciousness while the auto pilot was off... Who knows. It could be anything. Wait and see. Poor people, RIP.
EvoFire
03-21-2022 11:51 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by hud 91gt
(Post 9058529)
Stall, with a really bad recovery... or a control failure. (Likely option B). Honestly it could be anything. Explosive decompression, causing crew injury/unconsciousness while the auto pilot was off... Who knows. It could be anything. Wait and see. Poor people, RIP.
Would the black box survive a straight to the ground, whole plane disintegrated kind of crash?
hud 91gt
03-21-2022 12:19 PM
I think they are pretty robust, so I’d say there is a very good chance it would survive.
Terrible, terrible tragedy all around no matter what the cause.
OT, but does anyone know what dialect that person is speaking in the video? Sounds like Hokkien but I'm not aware of a large Hokkien speaking population in Guangxi.
Radar shows a descent, a short climb then back to a descent. Structural incident? Control malfunction? Physical actions? This is a weird one.
68style
03-21-2022 05:03 PM
Read an eyewitness report from a villager who said the plane came down vertical instead of horizontal... that sounds bizarre.
StylinRed
03-21-2022 05:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by CivicBlues
(Post 9058548)
Terrible, terrible tragedy all around no matter what the cause.
OT, but does anyone know what dialect that person is speaking in the video? Sounds like Hokkien but I'm not aware of a large Hokkien speaking population in Guangxi.
Sounds like lolo's when they speak mandarin, not sure though been aaaaaggges since I heard them, and they live in the areas of yunnan guangxi etc
PeanutButter
03-21-2022 07:28 PM
Oh man, I was trying to read if it was the MAX or not...
737-800 are pretty safe, aren't they?
Hondaracer
03-21-2022 07:36 PM
One of the largest produced variants I believe
Traum
03-21-2022 08:02 PM
The following link from an HK media outlet shows a supposed video of the plane falling down:
That's the weirdest & strangest way I've seen a plane crash, it's like a missile with its nose pointing down. How does that happen?
Hondaracer
03-21-2022 08:36 PM
I’m not any sort of aviation expert, far from it. But I have quite the interest in aviation and have watched and read tonnes of content on airplanes, construction, engines, airframes, etc. I’ve also watched like every episode of May Day a few times lol
In the case of a hull loss that would cause a crash I don’t think the airframe would be intact like the video shows? Especially if it was severe enough to disable the plane the plane wouldn’t just go into an intact nose dive.
I’ve also flown quite a bit with harbour air and other float planes locally and talked to those pilots and they’ve always said those things fly like rocks but even if the engines went they could still glide to “attempt” a landing obviously different when you’re a few thousand feet up VS 36,000+
Engine failure etc. you’d think they would have radioed somthing
Traum
03-21-2022 09:18 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondaracer
(Post 9058616)
In the case of a hull loss that would cause a crash I don’t think the airframe would be intact like the video shows? Especially if it was severe enough to disable the plane the plane wouldn’t just go into an intact nose dive.
The big question that I have in mind is -- how can we tell whether the plane is still intact at the time when the video recorded its fall? The HK01 news article says that "according to the video, the plane was still intact at the time of the fall". But if you were to ask me, all I saw is a straight line dropping down from the sky. Based on the video, I couldn't make out anything that might resemble the tail stabilizers, nor can I make out the wings.
If you or the news reports can see those from the video, then all I can say is, you guys have got better eye sights than I do!
hud 91gt
03-21-2022 09:21 PM
With a dual engine failure, the angle the aircraft comes down would be pretty indistinguishable from the airplanes you see landing everyday. From altitude, arrivals are planned at idle. Sure there is still thrust but not much. Once stabilized on final approach, with all the drag (gear and flaps), some thrust is required to hold your speed, but to the average person, the angle of approach with no engines, and a normal approach would be less then a degree (Assuming no gear/flaps on the no engine a/c). Now that I’m thinking about it, it would be neat to see the drag from a free spinning turbofan vs a piston prop. The drag on a windmilling prop a/c is fairly high…. Either way gliding distance on the 767 was fairly fun to play with. Can’t say I’ve tested it on the 737.
hud 91gt
03-21-2022 09:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
(Post 9058619)
The big question that I have in mind is -- how can we tell whether the plane is still intact at the time when the video recorded its fall? The HK01 news article says that "according to the video, the plane was still intact at the time of the fall". But if you were to ask me, all I saw is a straight line dropping down from the sky. Based on the video, I couldn't make out anything that might resemble the tail stabilizers, nor can I make out the wings.
If you or the news reports can see those from the video, then all I can say is, you guys have got better eye sights than I do!
Accident investigators have a pretty good idea due to the wreckage. Impact, where things spread out too etc. If the tail is found a mile away, chances are it wasn’t attached on impact. Black box will tell the rest of the story. There is sensors on everything (control surfaces). System monitors etc. If a control surface ripped off in flight you’d see hydraulic issues etc.
The odd thing about this one is the lack of radio calls, and the extreme angle. The dash cam footage shows it not nearly as straight down, but still very odd. Catastrophic event, or purposeful event. Hijacking, mental illness etc.
StylinRed
03-21-2022 09:27 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
(Post 9058609)
The following link from an HK media outlet shows a supposed video of the plane falling down:
Also if you look in the thread there's footage from the crash site, there's literally nothing left, so shocking
Reports from China say there was a passenger that was denied boarding due to issues with their covid passport, not sure how true that is but damn
donk.
03-21-2022 10:14 PM
The pictures of the aftermath do not make any sense, it literally broke into a million fractional pieces
Unless its buried under all that dirt
hud 91gt
03-22-2022 06:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by donk.
(Post 9058624)
The pictures of the aftermath do not make any sense, it literally broke into a million fractional pieces
Unless its buried under all that dirt
You’d be amazed.
I was at the First Air 6560 crash site back in 2011. 737 crash, at final approach speed/angle (aka slow) and the thing disintegrated. Now triple that speed, straight into the ground and well….
One of the arguments 9/11 Truthers used to use was how Flight 93 impacted the ground and left so few parts or bodies. They couldn't comprehend the absolute destruction and pulverization of an impact at those speeds. I imagine this impact was similar.
A failed part could be enough to make a plane uncontrollable. Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed because of a fatigued jackscrew, causing all loss of pitch control.
Hondaracer
03-22-2022 08:24 AM
In that case though you’d be able to make radio contact before crashing
hud 91gt
03-22-2022 08:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondaracer
(Post 9058641)
In that case though you’d be able to make radio contact before crashing
I’d tend to agree with you. It’s plausible if two people are fighting to get the A/C under control, you may have other priorities. At that point a radio call is only accomplishing the task of telling Revscene you were able to communicate on the radio.
Gumby
03-22-2022 08:49 AM
Hud_91gt, what’s your line of work again? A commercial pilot if I remember correctly?
