U.S. officials believe that the China Eastern 737 crash in March was intentional, not due to any issue with the Boeing aircraft.
Report: China Eastern 737 Crash Was Intentional According To U.S. Officials
A Wall Street Journal report quotes a person “familiar” with the U.S. investigation, claiming the preliminary assessment reveals:
“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit.”
This assessment is drawn from both black box data and findings from Chinese investigators that do not reveal any flight-control or mechanical issues.
It is not clear at this point if pilots were responsible or if someone broke into the cockpit to deliberately cause the crash.
China Eastern, however, is not pleased with the speculation, warning the WSJ:
“Any unofficial speculation may interfere with the accident investigation and affect the real progress of the global air transport industry.”
It also told the WSJ that there is no definitive evidence to accurately determine whether there was aircraft problems. Furthermore, it shared that the pilots’ health, family, and financial conditions were stable.
China Eastern also dismissed speculation that an unauthorized person had entered the cockpit, noting that no emergency code had been squawked from the plane, which could have been done within seconds had someone attempted to gain unauthorized access.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Administration of China refused to respond to requested for comment from the WSJ.
Neither U.S. or Chinese safety regulators nor Boeing have issued any service bulletins concerning the 737-800, something that typically would be done even if there was even a remote hunch that a mechanical failure contributed to the crash.
CONCLUSION
While this story is developing, for the first time U.S. officials have (unofficially) weighed in on the China Eastern 737-800 crash. The working theory, at least for now, is that the nosedive was deliberate and no mechanical fault on the Boeing aircraft contributed to the crash.
image: Wikimedia Commons
Matthew,
I have seen some headlines that the PW powered 777s got approval from the FAA to return again, can you confirm this? Coming back in about 10 days?
Sad to see the Polaris product be taken off Hawaii but good to have the additional planes back.
Chris
Will check it out.
Would never fly any airline in China! Ever! Lots of international carriers just don’t have the same safety standards we have in the US,
Also, Chris RE the PW 777 yes the FAA gave the green light late on Monday night. Will return to hub to hub routes in June with the HD configuration, and then will return to Hawaii in HD and international with Polaris config in July.
Also, the transcon routes LAX/SFO-EWR go to mostly all widebody service (with a few daily 757s still) starting in June, so some of these might be the PW 777s but the ones with Polaris not the HD. Hopefully that stays off the transcon.
‘Merica is safer than everywhere. Oh by the way, remember that domestic flight in the US that had its engine go up in flames as it flew over Denver, the agency that said the Max was fine just said it’s fine too.
There is always a danger of pilots themselves doing this. That’s why locked doors are a problem. If the public can’t be trusted, why would we trust 2 people who are vetted by bureaucrats we should trust even less. The public would be safer with locks that disable after 15 seconds of touching the handle. Cameras facing from front to back in the aisles shouldn’t just be like body cams for evidence after the fact but could be to monitor the aisles.
It’s also possible someone was smoking in the cockpit or pushed and pulled the controls in opposite directions.
Ben is reporting some airlines have quietly repealed the requirements of someone being with the pilot when the other steps out to the restroom.
You hear or know anything about this Matt? Which airlines?
I was not aware of this. Did you ask Ben in the comments section?
I though it was widely reported that many foreign airlines had repealed the two person requirement. I don’t see why it’s so difficult to have a flight attendant go sit in the cockpit when one of the pilots leave, or why anyone would object. US airlines do it on every flight.
I suspected this was the case when the plane first crashed. If there were a problem with the tail, it would be quick but not sudden.
This is why I don’t do mileage runs anymore. It would be barely ok to die on a trip to see Grandma. It would be highly regretful to die on a flight to get another 57 miles or whatever needed to be elite.