Nearly 18 hours after the China Eastern plane crash, no one has been found alive in the wreckage. The plane carrying 132 people had crashed on Monday. It is one of the worst disasters in the country in almost a decade. According to state broadcaster CCTV, “Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but no one on board has been found so far. Search operations are on on Tuesday as well.”
The plane crashed in the southern province of Guangxi and the crash caused a fire in a mountainous area. The Boeing 737-800 plane crashed near the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi region on its way from Kunming to Guanzhou. China’s Civil Aviation Administration said 123 passengers and nine crew members were on board the plane.
Chinese President orders completion of investigation
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered a comprehensive rescue operation to ensure civil aviation safety as well as a full investigation into the accident. At the same time, ‘China Eastern Airline’, one of China’s three largest airlines, has canceled flights of all its Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the accident. China Eastern Airlines has also changed the color of its website to black.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft banned in India in 2019
The Boeing 737 MAX is an upgraded version of the Boeing 737-800 and both belong to the 737 series. US-based aircraft maker Boeing has not commented on the matter. During the six months between October 2018 and March 2019, two Boeing 737 MAX planes were involved in crashes that killed a total of 346 people. Following these two accidents, the DGCA banned Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in India in March 2019.