China Eastern Airlines Crash: No Survivors Found at Guangxi Site
3 min read 
HONG KONG—Rescuers haven’t found any survivors at the site of a plane crash in southern China where a
China Eastern Airlines Corp.
737 carrying 132 people plummeted to the ground, with search efforts complicated by mountainous terrain.
“Wreckage and debris of the crashed plane have been found at the scene, but up until now, none of those on board who lost contact have been found,” state broadcaster China Central Television said Tuesday morning. If all 132 people on board Monday’s flight died, it would be China’s deadliest air crash in almost three decades.
The Boeing Co. 737-800 flying from the southwestern city of Kunming to the southern metropolis of Guangzhou was at cruising altitude on Monday before nosediving at 2:20 p.m. local time, according to flight-tracking data. The plane was transporting nine crew members and 123 passengers.
Last information received at 14:22 local time
Flight MU5735 departs at 13:11 local time
Flight was scheduled to arrive at 15:05 local time
Last information received at 14:22 local time
Flight MU5735 departs at 13:11 local time
Flight was scheduled to arrive at 15:05 local time
Last information received at 14:22 local time
Flight MU5735 departs at 13:11 local time
Flight was scheduled to arrive at 15:05 local time
Flight MU5735 departs at 13:11 local time
Last information received at 14:22 local time
Flight was scheduled to arrive at 15:05 local time
Flight MU5735 departs at 13:11 local time
Last information received at 14:22 local time
Flight was scheduled to arrive at 15:05 local time
The plane wreckage was strewn across a forested mountainous region in Guangxi, which makes the search for the aircraft’s black box more difficult, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing rescuers. Investigators try to find and analyze the plane’s flight-data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to help gain insight into a flight’s final moments, though crash investigations often take months or years.
China’s Vice Premier Liu He and an official in Beijing’s cabinet led a team to Wuzhou, a city in Guangxi near the crash site, on Monday night to oversee the rescue efforts and investigation, Xinhua reported. Chinese President
Xi Jinping
has said he was shocked and ordered a search-and-rescue mission.
Relatives of some of the passengers went to Guangzhou’s Baiyun airport while they anxiously awaited news on Monday, according to state media. Ten relatives had rushed to join dozens of medics and experts in Wuzhou as of midnight, CCTV reported. The broadcaster said the crash site was ringed by mountains and accessible only by a small path, making the search mission more challenging.
A man surnamed Meng in a village about a half-mile from the crash said he heard what sounded like an explosion and saw the plane plunging straight to the ground within 10 seconds, state-run media outlet the Paper reported. Fire broke out in the area, Mr. Meng said, and thick smoke billowed from the forest after the crash, footage published by the outlet showed.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China will lead the investigation into Monday’s crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board has appointed a senior air-safety investigator as a U.S. representative, the NTSB said. Representatives from Boeing, engine maker CFM International and the Federal Aviation Administration will serve as technical advisers. That is typical when a Boeing plane crashes outside the U.S.
One question for investigators is why the jet plummeted so quickly from the sky, reaching vertical speeds of 31,000 feet a minute, or more than 350 miles an hour. It initially fell to an altitude of 7,425 feet and briefly managed to gain about 1,200 feet in altitude before again diving toward the mountain, data from Flightradar24 shows. The aircraft stopped transmitting at 3,225 feet, less than two minutes after entering the dive.
China Eastern responded to the crash on Monday by grounding the rest of its 737-800 fleet, broadcaster CCTV reported.
A Boeing spokesman said Monday that it was working with the airline and is in contact with the NTSB, with its experts prepared to assist with the investigation.
—Qianwei Zhang contributed to this article.
Write to Elaine Yu at elaine.yu@wsj.com
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