Flight data bolsters claim China Eastern plane was deliberately crashed in 2022

By Helen Regan, CNN

(CNN) — More than four years after a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet plunged 29,000 feet and crashed into a mountain in southern China, killing all 132 people on board, newly released data appears to indicate that someone in the cockpit may have intentionally switched off the fuel supply to the engines.

It was China’s deadliest air disaster in decades, but the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has not addressed the crucial question of what had prompted the deadly nosedive of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 in March 2022 in remote Guangxi region.

Data released by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in response to a freedom of information request, shows that the fuel switches to both engines were shut off simultaneously before the Boeing 737-800 jet dropped out of the sky.

The data was taken from the plane’s flight data recorder — one of two so-called “black boxes” that record all relevant operational information — which was recovered from the wreckage and sent to the NTSB’s laboratory in Washington DC for analysis (with the agency’s involvement stemming from Boeing being a US aircraft manufacturer).

“It was found that while cruising at 29,000 feet, the fuel switches on both engines moved from the run position to the cutoff position. Engine speeds decreased after the fuel switch movement,” the NTSB report said.

Fuel switches on commercial planes are physical controls that regulate the flow of fuel to the engines. On the 737, a pilot must pull the switch up before moving it from the run to cutoff position.

“This data clearly shows that the fuel switches were manually placed in the off position just prior to the crash,” said David Soucie, CNN aviation safety analyst.

“There is no indication the switches were placed back to the on position. That indicates there was no attempt to restart the engines,” he added. “If the switches were turned off in error the pilots would have made an attempt to turn them back on.”

The flight data recorder stopped recording when the plane’s generators lost power at 26,000 feet and did not capture the final moments of the crash, according to the report. The cockpit voice recorder – the plane’s other “black box” – continued recording via a battery backup.

US investigators managed to obtain four voice recordings from the damaged cockpit recorder and sent them to the CAAC, but the NTSB said it did not retain a copy of the audio files.

CNN has reached out to the CAAC and China Eastern Airlines for comment. The CAAC has previously denied the crash was intentional.

Aviation expert Tony Stanton of Australian consultancy Strategic Air cautioned the NTSB document should not be treated as a final accident report.

“The released material does not by itself prove motive, intent, or who moved the switches,” Stanton said.

He added, however, that the sequence of events is “very difficult to reconcile with a conventional dual-engine mechanical failure and is much more consistent with (human) commanded fuel shutoff.”

But any movement of the cockpit controls in “an extreme upset and high-speed descent” needs to be interpreted together with “full validated data, CVR (cockpit voice recorder) evidence, aircraft state, and the investigating authority’s final analysis,” Stanton said.

Speculation surrounds the crash

Previous reports have indicated that someone in the cockpit deliberately crashed the plane.

The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2022 that information extracted from the plane’s damaged flight data recorder shows human input orders to the controls sent the plane into its deadly dive, citing people familiar with the probe.

“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” the Journal quoted a person who is familiar with American officials’ preliminary assessment as saying.

American officials involved in the investigation were focusing on the actions of a pilot, the Journal reported at the time, adding that it was also possible that someone else on the plane could have broken into the cockpit and deliberately caused the crash.

Speculation about pilot suicide had previously prompted the CAAC to issue a denial. In its preliminary report, the CAAC said the flight and cabin crew held valid licenses, and the crew had enough rest and passed health checks on the day of the flight.

China has not published an update into its investigation since 2024, when the CAAC released a statement on the two-year anniversary of the crash reiterating earlier findings that it found no problems with the aircraft, crew or weather conditions.

It said no faults or abnormalities were found in the aircraft’s systems, structures or engines before take-off. Before the crash, there were no abnormalities in radio communications and control commands, or any reports of dangerous weather in the airspace of the plane or along its route, according to the CAAC.

China has faced public criticism for its failure to release a final report into the fatal crash, with some asking why investigators had not disclosed information from the “black boxes.”

The Boeing 737 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou on March 21, 2022, when it lost contact with air traffic control over the city of Wuzhou. On board were 123 passengers and nine crew members.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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