China Eastern Airline Boeing 737 Crashes With 132 On Board

A China Eastern Airlines passenger plane carrying 132 people crashed near Wuzhou City in southwest China on Monday triggering a mountain fire.

There was no immediate information on casualties and the cause of the crash. A flight-trafficking website Flightradar24 identified the plane as a seven-year-old 737-800aircraft.

Some video footage taken by local villagers has gone viral, showing fire and smoke from the crash and the plane debris on the ground.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China CAAC), the Boeing 737 lost contact with the southern cities of Kunming and Guangzhou. The 132 onboard included 123 passengers and 9 crew members.

The report added that rescue teams were dispatched to the scene and firefighters who reached the scene had already extinguished the blaze in the hills.

China Eastern is one of China’s three major air carriers with the country’s airline industry safety records among the best over the years.

BREAKING: CHINA EASTERN Airlines Boeing 737 has crashed near Wuzhou, southern China; initial reports say 133 onboard

William Ruto China Pandora Wanjigi #CrowdsForHire Raila Odinga Ndindi Nyoro Hague DP Ruto Rutos Luhya 2face Eldoret Ruto the 5th William Ruto pic.twitter.com/pmkMEkr5Zd

— Abdiaziz Hashim (@abdiazizhashim1) March 21, 2022

According to Aviation Safety Network, the last fatal jet accident reported in china occurred in 2010, which killed 44 out of 96 people on board. The crash involved an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines which crashed on approach to Yichun Airport in low visibility.

The 737 Max Version was banned from flying worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020 after two fatal crashes were reported in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The crash was attributed to manufacturing faults. China regulators, therefore, cleared the plane to return to service late last year but so far none has returned to commercial service.

China Eastern has greyed out its logo on its  Weibo account and also changed its website to black and white in an apparent sign of mourning.

The crash comes as Boeing has been trying to recover its reputation after a number of major incidents in recent years.