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China Eastern crash probe reportedly eyes intentional action

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On March 27, 2022, a plane transporting the second blackbox of the crash-landed China Eastern Airlines flight arrives at Beijing. The investigation into the accident involving a China Eastern Airlines plane is ongoing. Two persons briefed said there was no evidence of any technical fault.

Yang Kunye | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Investigations into the collision of an aircraft and a plane underway China Eastern AirlinesJet are investigating whether the accident was caused by intentional flight deck action, but there has been no evidence to support that. Two persons briefed on this matter stated that they have not found any evidence of an error in the technical system.

The Wall Street Journal reports that data from one Boeing 737-800 black box indicated that someone intentionally crashed the plane. The report was made by sources familiar with U.S. authorities.

BoeingAmerican National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the manufacturer of the jet, did not respond to requests for comment. Instead, they referred queries to Chinese regulators.

CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) is the lead investigator in this investigation. However, they did not reply immediately to my request for comment.

A Boeing 737-880 was on its way from Kunming, China, to Guangzhou. It crashed into the Guangxi Mountains, killing all 123 passengers, and nine crew.

This was China’s worst aviation accident in 28 years.

According to authorities, the pilots didn’t respond to calls from nearby planes and air traffic controllers at any point during rapid descent. One source said that investigators at Reuters were investigating whether the accident was a voluntary one.

Screenshots from the Wall Street Journal story were censored on Weibo in China and Wechat on Wednesday. Weibo banned hashtag topics such as “China Eastern” or “China Eastern Black Boxes” on Wednesday. Wechat users cannot share information about the incident in Wechat groups.

CAAC responded to internet rumors of deliberate crashes on April 11. It stated that speculation had “gravely misleading the public” as well as “interfering with accident investigation work.”

A widow, Wen (who lost her husband in the crash) asked for anonymity. She said that although she has not yet seen the Wall Street Journal article, she hoped to see the findings of the investigation soon.

Wen claimed that her family and others who were victims had signed an agreement between China Eastern. It included a clause about compensation. However, she refused to give details.

China Eastern has not yet responded to my request for comment. The Wall Street Journal stated that China Eastern had claimed in a statement that they had no evidence to prove there had been any issues with the aircraft.

Technical recommendations not available

Boeing’s 737-880, a predecessor of its 737 MAX is widely used. However, the 737-800 does not include the safety systems linked to deadly 737 MAX crashes in 2018, 2019, and so the MAX was grounded for a while.

China Eastern grounded all its 737800-800 planes following the accident, but resumed flight operations in April. The decision was widely considered to have eliminated any new safety concerns about Boeing’s most popular model.

Chinese investigators have not published a summary from a preliminary crash investigation last month. They did however point out technical recommendations that could be made for the 737-8800. The aircraft has been in operation since 1997, experts say.

Jennifer Homendy (NTSB Chair) stated that Boeing investigators were present in China as part of the Chinese investigation. Homendy noted that there had been no safety concerns that required urgent attention.

Homendy stated that if there were safety concerns, the board would issue “urgent safety recommendations”.

China asked the NTSB to assist it with reviewing black boxes in its U.S. Lab.

CAAC stated that NTSB has confirmed it didn’t release any information on the China Eastern accident to media. The state-owned Global Times reported.

Boeing shares closed at 6.5%

Chinese officials claim that it could take at least two years to complete a comprehensive report about the cause of the crash. Most crashes are due to both human and technological factors, according to experts.

It is rare to see deliberate crashes anywhere in the world. Although experts have not yet confirmed the theory, they noted that the new hypothesis leaves open the question of whether one pilot was responsible for the crash or whether it was the result of an intrusion or struggle.

It is not clear if investigators were able to recover any information from the cockpit voice recorder that was destroyed in the accident.

A Germanwings pilot deliberately flew an Airbus A320 in France into the mountains, killing 150 people aboard.

French investigators discovered that the 27-year old was experiencing a “psychotic depression episode,” which he had hidden from his employer. Later, they called for stronger peer support for pilots and better mental health guidelines.

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