(Bloomberg) — A Boeing Co. 737-800NG aircraft of China Eastern Airlines Corp. crashed Monday in southwestern China’s Guangxi province.
There were 132 people on board — 123 passengers and 9 crew members.
Representatives from China Eastern and Boeing were not immediately available for comment.
We follow the story, live.
The jet traveled from Kunming in Yunnan province to the Guangzhou production center, according to FlightRadar24. Radar tracking shows the plane descended steeply.Video posted to social media purporting to be from the crash site shows a fire in a heavily forested area.
Boeing shares fall (6:07 p.m. Beijing)
Shares of Boeing fell 6.6% in New York premarket trading, having previously fallen 7.5%.
China Eastern Safety Record (6:02 PM Beijing)
The last fatal crash involving Shanghai-based China Eastern was in 2004, when a plane on its way to the financial center in Inner Mongolia crashed, killing 53 people on board and two on the ground. At the time, that was the worst aviation accident in China in 30 months.
The last major incident at the airline was in June 2013 when an Embraer SA jet skidded off the runway while landing in Shanghai, according to Aviation Safety Network.
China Eastern is one of the country’s three largest airlines, along with Air China Ltd. and China Southern Airlines Co.
China Eastern Release Statement (5:52 PM Beijing)
China Eastern released a statement confirming the facts of the crash and adding details about an emergency telephone line for family members.
China Eastern’s website, mobile app and some of its social media platforms were black and white in a sign of mourning.
Crash site videos appear (5:10 pm Beijing)
Eyewitness videos posted to social media showed a forest fire on a mountainside at what is believed to be the crash site. China Central Television said the fire caused by the crash has now been extinguished.
Jet type (4:50 PM Beijing)
The 737-800 NG has one of the best safety records among jet aircraft, with just eight fatalities out of more than 7,000 sold in 2018, Boeing said. The plane from China Eastern was six years old, according to FlightRadar.
The 737-800 NG, or Next Generation, predated Boeing’s 737 Max, which has still not returned to commercial service in China — the first country to ground the jet in March 2019 after crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Aviation regulator confirms crash (4:30 p.m. Beijing)
The China Civil Aviation Authority, or CAAC, confirmed the crash in a statement on its website. CAAC said there were 123 passengers and nine crew on board.
The regulator said it had sent a task force to the scene and initiated an emergency response.
It is unclear whether there will be a media briefing or further communication from the regulator.
Link to statement (in Chinese) here.
State media report plane crash (4:00 p.m. Beijing)
Chinese state-backed media, including official Xinhua news agency, have begun reporting news of an accident involving a Boeing jet from China Eastern.
This post 132 people on Boeing jet feared dead
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