what happened?
The plane, a six-year-old Boeing 737-800NG operated by China Eastern, had left Kunming at 1:11 pm local time (6:11 am in Belgium) and was on its way to Guangzhou, 1,300 kilometers away.
According to China News, flight data show that the Boeing 737 flew at an altitude of 8,800 meters and suddenly fell at 2:19 pm local time (7:19 am Belgian time). Two minutes later, flight MU5735 was lost.
The plane crashed near Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province. State TV reported that a fire had broken out in a mountain, local officials said.
How can this happen?
The cause of the collapse is still unknown, but there is a lot of speculation. Visibility could have been limited by low hanging clouds and heavy rain.
“Even if the two Boeing 737 engines failed at the same time, it would be impossible for it to crash at that speed because the plane was still floating for some time,” an expert told state media.
How many victims are there?
Nothing is officially known about the victims. There were 132 people on board, including nine crew members. The fire service reported to local media that there were no signs of survivors among the wreckage.
In the last available public flight data, the plane was at an altitude of about one kilometer, and was descending at 566 kilometers per hour. “If true, it would obviously be unsustainable,” aviation expert Jason Rabinovich said on Twitter.
Air China is one of the safest aircraft in the world in terms of numbers. According to the Aviation Safety Network, the last fatal plane crash occurred in China in 2010. 44 of the 96 people on board a Henan Airlines Embaer E-190 were killed when the plane crashed due to poor visibility as it approached Yichun Airport.
