After a precipitous descent from cruise altitude, the China Eastern Airline Boeing 737-800 jet crashed in the mountains of Guangxi in March, killing all 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.

According to the Wall Street Journal, flight data from a black box recovered from a China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in March reveals that someone in the cockpit deliberately crashed the plane, citing people familiar with US officials’ first assessment.
A Western official told Reuters that the focus is on the crew’s behaviour after a preliminary investigation found no evidence of a technical malfunction.

The plane’s maker, Boeing, declined to comment and directed any inquiries to Chinese officials. The United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) did not respond swiftly.

In March, a Boeing 737-800 aeroplane flying from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed in the Guangxi highlands following a steep drop from cruise altitude, killing all 123 passengers and nine crew members on board. It was mainland China’s deadliest plane crash in 28 years.

In mid-April, China Eastern resumed flying the 737-800 planes. Despite the fact that the 737-800 has been in service since 1997 and has a stellar safety record, Chinese regulators made no technical recommendations in a summary of their preliminary crash study released last month.

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In a May 10 Reuters interview, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy claimed that board investigators and Boeing had come to China to assist the Chinese inquiry. She stated that the study had uncovered no safety hazards that required immediate attention.

If the board has any safety concerns, Homendy said the board will “make urgent safety recommendations.”

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