China Eastern Airlines crash: Disturbing theories emerge – 'Like thunder'
Investigators, including from the United States, will probe what went wrong before a Boeing 737 jet nosedived and crashed into the mountains of Guangxi in southern China as theories and speculation swirl around the tragedy.
China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 was headed for the port city of Guangzhou when it plunged from cruising altitude less than an hour before it was due to land.
Rescuers in China have searched for survivors but it is believed all 132 passengers on board the flight perished in the disaster.
The plane appeared to dive to the ground at an angle of about 35 degrees from the vertical in video images captured from a vehicle's dashboard camera.
Zhu Tao, director of aviation safety at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), told reporters it would initially be difficult for investigators to piece together what happened.
"The jet was seriously damaged during the crash, and investigations will face a very high level of difficulty.
"Given the information currently available, we still do not have a clear assessment of the cause for the crash," he said during the first government briefing.
He added the aircraft did not respond to repeated calls from air controllers during its rapid descent.
Claims 'human activity' caused Boeing 737 crash
Prominent aviation expert Neil Hansford claims a technical fault would not have caused such a sudden and rapid descent for the China Eastern Airlines flight.
Instead, he believes a "human-induced event" must be to blame for the calamity, including the possibility of friendly rocket fire or a collision with a military aircraft which don't have transponders.
"My tipping is a human-induced event or brought down by rogue missile. Debris looks like MH117 over Ukraine and the Chinese are providing too much information this time which is uncharacteristic," he told news.com.au.
In a separate TV interview with Channel 10 on Wednesday, Mr Hansford raised the unfounded prospect of a "suicidal" act by the pilot as another speculative possibility, but again pointed to the possibility of an accidental rocket or mid-air collision.
"I don't believe for one minute – and neither does any of the expert opinion around the world – that it's got anything to do with the Boeing 737-800" model of plane.
The 737-800 is considered one of the safest aircraft ever made, Bloomberg reported. The six-year-old Chinese jet was part of a Next Generation (NG) model which preceded the 737 Max and has one of the best safety records among all aircraft.
"The 737 NG has been in operation for 25 years and has an excellent safety record," said Paul Hayes, director of air safety and insurance at aviation consultancy firm Cirium.
"I’m not going to speculate on what happened but if the Flightradar24 logs are accurate, something seems to have happened abruptly and the plane nose dived from cruising altitude," he told Bloomberg.
A 64-year-old villager near the crash who gave their name as Si, told Reuters he heard a "bang, bang" at the time of the crash.
"It was like thunder," he said.
China Eastern crew members were 'in good health'
It's China's first crash of a commercial jetliner since 2010.
"That B737-800 jet met airworthiness standards before taking off and technical conditions were stable," Sun Shiying, a China Eastern official, said at the briefing.
"The crew members were in good health, and their flying experience was in line with regulatory requirements," he said.
Meanwhile the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States will support a Chinese probe into the disaster, a spokesperson for the NTSB said overnight.
"The NTSB is in contact with the CAAC investigator-in-charge and we will support their investigation with our technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and CFM in all ways necessary," they said.
with Reuters
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