Bad news coming from China this morning as it was reported that a China Eastern domestic flight from Kunming to Guangzhou has crashed with 132 passengers and crew on board.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737 which took off this morning from Kunming which is located in Southwest China to Guangzhou where it never arrived.
Chinese media CCTV as well as amateur footage quickly broke news about the crash in the mountainous region of Guangxi where large fires could be seen at the crash site.
CNN’s International Desk also reported about it a short while ago:
A China Eastern Airlines jetliner carrying 132 people crashed in the mountains in southern China’s Guangxi region on Monday afternoon, according to China’s Civil Aviation Administration.
The Boeing-737 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou when it lost contact over the city of Wuzhou. On board were 123 passengers and nine crew members, CAAC said in a statement posted online.
Rescue teams are en route to the accident scene, where there is fire visible on site, but the casualties are unknown, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Initial state media reports had indicated there were 133 people on board. …
The CAAC said in a statement that a rescue team has been dispatched to the crash site.
“The Civil Aviation Administration of China Eastern airlines has activated the emergency response mechanism after a Boeing 737 crashed,” the CAAC said in its statement.
If the description of the crash isn’t horrible enough, footage already posted at multiple online sources makes visible how difficult the rescue operations will be:
The terrain in the Guangxi mountains will make it very hard even for well-equipped rescue teams to access the site, especially with the fire raging.
Here is some data from Flightradar24 (with interruptions, likely due to Chinese military restrictions):
It’s unknown at this time if there are any survivors. When Japan Airlines flight JL123 crashed into a mountain after leaving Tokyo did produce survivors but after the Japanese authorities bungled the rescue efforts only one little girl eventually survived the crash.
Hopefully, there will be at least some people who come out of this alive despite how bad it looks.
Normally is customary for the aircraft manufacturer (Boeing) to be involved in the accident investigation even if it’s an international incident outside the manufacturer’s home country. I wonder if this will still be the case in the current political climate.
Conclusion
A Chinese passenger jet of China Eastern Airlines has crashed into a mountain during a domestic flight from Kunming to Guangzhou. The incident happened this morning and the aircraft has 133 people on board.
After the crash which was partially caught partially on video (much of it available on Chinese media), the surrounding area is now on fire, limiting access to the site which automatically reduces the chances of those who were involved in this accident. RIP!
