China plane crash that killed all 132 probably deliberate: Reports

Chinese investigators have led the China plan crash inquiry but US officials are involved as the plane is US-made.

A China Eastern Airlines plane crash that killed all 132 passengers onboard in a crash, appears to have been a deliberate attempt by someone at the controls, according to media reports.

Flight MU5735 was enroute from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou on March 21 when it descended more than 20,000ft in just over a minute and crashed.

According to the Guardian report, an analysis by US officials of the black box flight recorders found amid the wreckage suggests that a deliberate input from the cockpit forced the Boeing 737-800 plane into its catastrophic dive.

Chinese investigators have led the crash inquiry but US officials are involved as the plane is US-made. A team of US investigators departed for China to probe the causes on March 21.

While there were faults in the design of Boeing’s later 737-Max model that led to two fatal disasters in 2018 and 2019, the 737-800 has long been in everyday service around the world.

According to the media reports, aviation experts had noted that the flight pattern shown on tracking sites resembled the Germanwings crash in 2015, due to lack of reported mayday call or any loss of data signal. That Airbus A320 passenger plane was crashed deliberately by the pilot as it crossed the French Alps, killing 150 people.

The Chinese authorities have not indicated to their US counterparts that there was any mechanical or flight-control problems with the plane, the reports said, adding that no emergency code was sent, suggesting no intruder could have reached the cockpit.