Aviation

Boeing 737 carrying 132 passengers and crew crashes in southern China.

On Monday, a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in the mountains of southern China on a domestic flight after a rapid descent from cruising altitude.
According to the media, there were no survivors, and the airline expressed its condolences for the passengers and crew who died.

The plane was flying from Kunming, Yunnan province’s capital, to Guangzhou, Guangdong province’s capital, which borders Hong Kong.

The aeroplane descended at a terminal velocity of 31,000 feet per minute, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. The cause of the tragedy is being investigated, according to China Eastern.

According to the airline, it established a hotline for customers’ relatives and dispatched a staff to the catastrophe scene.

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The plane crashed and set fire to bamboo trees, according to media accounts. A provincial firefighting department official declared to the People’s Daily that there was no sign of life among the rubble.

The jet, which was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, lost communication above Wuzhou, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the airline.

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According to FlightRadar24 data, the flight left Kunming at 1:11 p.m. (0511 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou at 3:05 p.m. (0705 GMT).

Despite the fact that the cruising phase of flight takes up the majority of the flight duration, accidents are rare.

According to statistics given by Boeing last year, just 13% of fatal commercial accidents occurred during the cruise phase between 2011 and 2020, whereas 28% of fatal accidents occurred on final approach and 26% on landing.

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Aviation

COMAC Unveils Plans for the C929 to Rival Airbus and Boeing

After the success of China’s first C919 aircraft, the country is setting its sights on developing a larger plane. COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has officially confirmed plans to build a widebody aircraft, marking a significant step in its aircraft lineup.

Traditionally, Airbus and Boeing dominate the widebody aircraft market, with decades of expertise in developing planes and engines capable of carrying heavy payloads. China, which currently relies on imported engines, is now aiming to challenge these giants with its own widebody jet, the C929, designed to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.

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The C929 will be China’s first independently developed long-range widebody aircraft. It adheres to international airworthiness standards and boasts independent intellectual property rights. The baseline version is designed to seat 280 passengers and offers a range of 12,000 kilometers, catering to global demand for both regional and international air travel.

Russia, which also needs reliable narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could become a key customer for the C929. Additionally, China plans to target the broader Asian market as it continues to expand its aviation capabilities.

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China’s aviation progress includes the ARJ21 (now called C909), a regional jet with 100 seats for shorter routes, and the C919, a narrowbody jet with 180 seats designed to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320. Both models have found increasing demand in the domestic market.

At China’s largest air show in Zhuhai, COMAC announced that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929 widebody jet, though details about order size and delivery timelines were not disclosed.

Other major deals announced by COMAC include:

Hainan Airlines: Firm orders for 60 C919 and 40 C909 regional jets.
Colorful Guizhou Airlines: 30 C909 jets, with 20 firm orders and 10 provisional agreements.

The C929, renamed from the CR929 after Russia withdrew from the joint development project in 2023, is expected to carry 280–400 passengers with a range of 12,000 kilometers, competing directly with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

According to COMAC’s deputy general manager, Tong Yu, the first fuselage section of the C929 is expected by September 2027, with prototype test flights anticipated soon after.