China Eastern black box indicates 737 crash was intentional

Geoffrey Thomas

By Geoffrey Thomas Tue May 17, 2022

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that someone intentionally put flight China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 into a nose dive killing all 132 aboard.

"Data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive," the WSJ said.

The paper is quoting people familiar with US officials' preliminary assessment of what led to the accident.

Chinese authorities, who are leading the investigation, also have not flagged any mechanical or flight control problems with the plane involved in the March 21 crash.

What is not clear is whether it was one of the pilots or a passenger. China Eastern Flight MU5735 crashed on March 21, 2022. Flight MU5735 a Boeing 737-800, of China Eastern Airlines, took off from Kunming Changshui Airport at 13:16 Beijing time and climbed to an altitude of 8900m. At 14:20:55 Guangzhou area control radar showed a “deviation” warning, as the aircraft left the cruise altitude. ATC called the crew but received no reply. SEE the podcast: Flight Safety Detectives dissect the Netflix doco “Downfall”. READ: Boeing will bounce back says world’s largest leasing company READ: How the Airbus A350 went from defeat to victory READ: Can the giant AN-225 fly again?
About AirlineRatings.com Airlineratings.com was developed to provide everyone in the world a one-stop shop for everything related to airlines, formed by a team of aviation editors, who have forensically researched nearly every airline in the world. Our rating system is rated from one to seven stars on safety – with seven being the highest ranking. Within each airline, you will find the country of origin, airline code, booking URL and seat map information. The rating system takes into account a number of different factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies, lead associations, as well as the airlines, own safety data. Every airline has a safety rating breakdown so you can see exactly how they rate. Over 230 of the airlines on the site that carry 99 per cent of the world’s passengers have a product rating. Given that low cost, regional and full-service carriers are so different we have constructed a different rating system for each which can be found within each airline.

Have questions or want to share your thoughts?

Comments

No comments yet, be the first to write one.

Latest news and reviews

View more
Jetstar vs Scoot between Singapore and Australia: Who's the better choice?
Airline News

Jetstar vs Scoot between Singapore and Australia: Who's the better choice?

May 21, 2026

Nicholas Ling
Which airline is best between the UK and Dubai?
Airline News

Which airline is best between the UK and Dubai?

May 20, 2026

Josh Wood
Flying to Nepal? You need to read this
Airline News

Flying to Nepal? You need to read this

May 19, 2026

Sharon Petersen
Why are pre-takeoff and landing checks so important?
Airline News

Why are pre-takeoff and landing checks so important?

May 16, 2026

Josh Wood

Featured articles

View more
Jetstar vs Scoot between Singapore and Australia: Who's the better choice?
Airline News

Jetstar vs Scoot between Singapore and Australia: Who's the better choice?

May 21, 2026

Nicholas Ling
Flying to Nepal? You need to read this
Airline News

Flying to Nepal? You need to read this

May 19, 2026

Sharon Petersen
Which airline is best between the UK and Dubai?
Airline News

Which airline is best between the UK and Dubai?

May 20, 2026

Josh Wood
United Airlines 767 accident adds to pattern of recent incidents
Airline News

United Airlines 767 accident adds to pattern of recent incidents

May 7, 2026

Josh Wood