New Delhi, March 21: A Chinese airlines carrying 133 passengers on board crashed in the southern province of Guangxi on Monday, according to reports in the Chinese state media. The accident involving a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 took place near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county. The crash sparked a mountainside fire.
Here is what we Know so far about it:
Currently, there is little information on the number of casualties and injuries. The media said rescuers had been dispatched.
China Eastern operates multiple variants of the aircraft, including the 737-800 and the 737 Max. It could not be immediately known which version was involved in the accident.
The China Eastern flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou departed at 1.11 pm local time (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed. US F-35C Stealth Aircraft Crash: Leaked Footage Shows Fighter Jet Crashing And Bursting Into Flames On Aircraft Carrier In South China Sea (Watch Video)
The flight could not be tracked after 2.22 pm local time when it was at an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots. It had been due to land in Guangzhou, on the east coast, at 3:05 p.m local time.
There was no word on the cause of the crash of the plane, which flight-tracking website Flightradar24 identified as a six-year-old 737-800 aircraft.
The China Eastern Airlines website was later presented in black and white in response to the crash as a sign of respect for the assumed victims.
China Eastern is one of China’s three major air carriers, operating scores of domestic and international routes serving 248 destinations.
The safety record of the country’s airline industry has been among the best in the world over the past decade.
According to Aviation Safety Network, China’s last fatal jet accident was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people on board were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun airport in low visibility.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2022 04:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).