China Eastern grounds all Boeing 737-800 after air crash

Imaginechina

China Eastern Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737-800 aircraft following an air crash of the narrow-body jetliner in south China on Monday afternoon.

Those currently in operation will be grounded after landing, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operating the MU5735 flight with 123 passengers and nine crew members on board, crashed at about 2:38 pm into a mountainous area near the Molang village in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou, causing a mountain fire.

The aircraft was flying from Kunming in southwestern Yunnan Province, to Guangzhou, southern Guangdong Province.

China Eastern said no foreign passenger was on board the crashed aircraft, according to CCTV.

China Eastern operates 291 Boeing 737 series airliners with an average operation age of seven years. The 737-800, belonging to the 737NG aircraft family, is one of the mainstream single-aisle passenger aircraft operated by domestic airlines, and also one of the most popular narrow-body aircraft in the world.

According to statistics, domestic airlines operate about 1,400 Boeing 737NG aircraft, about 37 percent of the total fleet.

Following the grounding of the aircraft, China Eastern has canceled 1,786 flights as of 7pm on Monday, and another 1,757 flights for Tuesday, accounting for over 80 percent of its scheduled flights.

Kunming Changshui International Airport also canceled a lot of incoming and outgoing flights.

"Before the cause of the accident is known, the suspension is a common occurrence to prevent risks," said Li Xiaoguang, a professor at Qingdao University and a civil aviation expert.

China Eastern said in a statement that an emergency response mechanism has been activated with nine groups set up to take charge of the aircraft maintenance, accident investigation, family assistance, logistics, legal support, public relations, security, finance, as well as passenger and cargo treatment.

The groups have taken a charter flight to the accident site. A hotline for family members of the passengers and crew members on board the ill-fated aircraft has also been publicized (4008495530).

"China Eastern deeply condoles the loss of lives in the crash," the carrier said. The website and app of the airline have been turned into black and white.

The carrier has refuted an online claim that the aircraft maintenance costs were slashed due to losses amid the pandemic. According to the company, maintenance spending on its fleet has increased by 12 percent in 2021 compared with 2019.

Boeing said it is still gathering information on the accident.