The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the aircraft lost contact over the city of Wuzhou.
“The CAAC has activated the emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene,” it said in a statement.Media reports cited a rescue official as saying the plane had completely disintegrated. A fire sparked by the crash burned down bamboo and trees before being put out.
There was no word on the cause of the crash of the plane, a 6-year-old 737-800 aircraft, according to Flightradar24. The China Eastern flight from Kunming to Guangzhou departed at 1.11 pm (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed.
The flight tracking ended at 2.22 pm (0622 GMT) an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots. It had been due to land at 3.05 pm (0705 GMT). The safety record of China’s airline industry has been among the best in the world over the past decade.Boeing 737 has been involved in several accidents. However, in November last year, China’s aviation regulator told airlines that it is satisfied that design changes Boeing proposed for its 737 MAX plane that could resolve safety problems.
The CAAC invited airlines to give feedback on a proposed airworthiness directive for the 737 MAX by November 26, according to Reuters.
The directive outlines specific procedures for pilots to perform in case of problems similar to those that emerged in two deadly crashes before the plane’s grounding in March 2019. It also lists all the systems that must be functioning in order for the plane to be dispatched.
