A US probe has found that Chinese authorities knew for four years that a pilot deliberately crashed a Boeing 737, killing 132 people.
16:24, Mon, May 4, 2026 Updated: 16:30, Mon, May 4, 2026
The crash killed 132 people on board (Image: Getty)
A US probe into a plane crash revealed that the pilot deliberately caused the crash, which killed 132 people. Newly surfaced information revealed that the pilot of a China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 smashed into a mountain at 350mph in Guangxi on purpose. The flight crashed on March 21, 2022, killing everyone on board.
A probe by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed that one of the three airmen on board shut down both engines and turned off autopilot. Meanwhile, recordings reveal that two pilots fought over control before one of them managed to force the plane into a nosedive, which eventually resulted in the crash. An official report has not been released by the authorities in Beijing. However, the probe revealed that authorities knew that the crash was deliberate for four years. The Chinese authorities said last year that releasing the information about the crash would be a threat to national security, despite growing outrage and pressure from the victims' families.
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The NTSB report revealed: "It was found that while cruising at 29,000ft, the fuel switches on both engines moved from the run position to the cut-off position."
"Engine speeds decreased after the fuel switch movement."
An analysis revealed that one pilot tried to reverse the nosedive. Both steered in opposite directions, trying to win control of the aircraft.
The NTSB did not reveal what exactly was said between the two pilots, but voice recordings were obtained during the probe. Meanwhile, video footage taken from the ground shows the plane plummeting to the ground vertically.
The crash was intentional as a pilot sent the plane into a nosedive (Image: Getty)
Two months after the fatal crash, a US investigator told The Wall Street Journal that the plane "did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit".
The three airmen on board the flight were Captain Yang Hongda, 32, Zhang Zhengping, the 59-year-old first officer, and Ni Gongtao, a 27-year-old second officer in training.
Speculation suggested that the crash was a murder-suicide, as Zhang, one of the airline’s most experienced pilots, had recently been demoted from his captain’s rank.
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English (US) · 