China Eastern crash puts spotlight on ill-fated aircraft
A Boeing 737 aircraft, operated by China Eastern Airlines and carrying 123 passengers and 9 crew members, crashed in southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday afternoon while on its way to southern Guangzhou City from southwestern Kunming City.
China has one of the world's strongest air safety records in the past two decades, and the rare crash reminded many of the vast grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes after two catastrophic crash disasters in less than five months in Indonesia and Ethiopia, respectively.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China only just gave approval for the Boeing 737 Max in December, setting the stage for the jet to return to airline schedules in the country this year.
Flight tracking apps show the model involved in the China Eastern Airlines crash to be a Boeing 737-800, a part of the Boeing 737 NG (Next Generation) along with 737-700 and 737-900.
The single-aisle 737-800 is one of the most popular aircraft in the sky. It last made global headlines when dozens of older Boeing 737 planes were grounded worldwide in late 2019 due to cracking in the "pickle fork," a component between wing and fuselage.
The United States Federal Aviation Authority issued a directive for immediate inspection of all 737 NGs that had seen heavy use, and more than 50 were grounded by airlines around the world.
This file photo taken on May 29, 2020 shows a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft parked at the Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.
Recent Boeing 737 accidents:
9Air Flight AQ1305
On March 1, 2022, the Chinese low-cost carrier diverted the flight to an alternative airport due to a fire in the luggage compartment of the Boeing 737-800. All passengers and crew members were safely evacuated.
Air India Express Flight 1344
On August 7, 2020, the Boeing 737-800 scheduled from Dubai to India's Kozhikode to repatriate Indian nationals stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, failed two landing attempts amid heavy rain. It overshot the runway on the third attempt, killing 19 passengers and both pilots. Four cabin crew members and 165 passengers survived.
Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193
On February 5, 2020, the Boeing 737-800 scheduled from Izmir to Istanbul in Turkey skidded off the runway when landing. Three people were killed and 179 injured.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302
On March 10, 2019, the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, scheduled from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing 157 people on board.
Lion Air Flight 610
On October 29, 2018, the Boeing 737 Max, operated by the Indonesian airline, crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
