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Accidents and disasters in China
China

3 years on: no final report and no answers to China Eastern plane disaster

Chinese authorities opt out of issuing update on MU5735 crash investigation

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On March 21, 2022, 123 passengers and nine crew were killed when China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 crashed into a mountain. Photo: Xinhua
Yuanyue Dangin Beijing

The cause of China’s worst plane crash in 30 years remains unknown, with Chinese authorities opting to not file a progress report on the third anniversary of the disaster.

China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 was flying from the southwestern city of Kunming to the southern city of Guangzhou on March 21, 2022 when it plunged into the side of a mountain near Wuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, killing all 123 passengers and nine crew.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) convention requires the country conducting an air accident investigation to publish the final investigation report within 12 months of the event. If this is not done, the investigating authority must publish an annual update on the anniversary of the accident each year.

Instead of a final report on the Boeing 737-800 crash, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) released updates in 2023 and 2024. But it did not do so on Friday for the third anniversary.

02:22

Black box from crashed China Eastern Airlines flight found

Black box from crashed China Eastern Airlines flight found

The incident was China’s worst air crash since 1994 and ended the country’s world-record run for aviation safety. Before the crash, Chinese carriers had amassed more than 100 million hours of safe flying.

A family member of one of the crash victims told the South China Morning Post on Thursday that they had not been told how the investigation was progressing, only learning about last year’s briefing from the news.

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