Newly released data indicates that someone intentionally cut off fuel to both engines of a China Eastern Airlines plane and there was a struggle over the controls ahead of the plane. Hit a mountain in 2022As a result, all 132 people on board were killed.
In response to a public records request, the National Transportation Safety Board recently issued a report on what the Boeing 737-800 flight data recorder revealed. NTSB I became involved In the Chinese investigation, because the plane and engines were made by American companies, and American investigators are considered among the world’s leading experts in analyzing black boxes after an accident.
Aviation safety experts agree that the data shows that both engines stopped and that someone forced the plane to land and turn 360 degrees, but it does not conclusively show exactly what happened because the Civil Aviation Administration of China has… They have not been released yet Its final report after four years. International standards call on investigators to do their best to issue their report approximately one year after the accident.
The NTSB report is dated July 1, 2022. It was released on May 1, but the first news stories about it appeared only this week.
By design, the fuel levers on a 737 cannot easily be bumped or accidentally stopped, as someone would have to pull them out to free them before they can move. The levers are locked in place, so it’s possible someone intentionally moved them into the cut-off position, said John Cox, chief executive of Safety Operations.
The data ended while the plane was still at an altitude of 26,000 feet (7,900 meters) after power was lost to the flight recorder and all of the plane’s hydraulic systems, but the report from the 12 minutes before that indicates what happened.
The cockpit voice recorder, which kept running because it had a backup battery, could also help shed light, but the NTSB has not released a transcript of what it found in those recordings. It is up to the Chinese authorities to publish these details.
Jeff Guzzetti, who previously investigated the plane crashes for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration, said flight data indicated there was a struggle and that the crash could have been a suicide by the pilot. There have been a number of previous cases of this, including a Germanwings flight Crashed in the French Alps In 2015, killing all on board.
“Normally when you want to roll an airplane, it’s a smooth movement of the control wheel in one direction. But here it’s going back and forth, back and forth, as if someone is trying to counteract the initial motion of the roll,” Guzzetti said. “So it’s not conclusive, but it certainly has signs of a struggle in the cockpit.”
Details about this incident will be updated Long-standing industry concerns On how to ensure the mental health of pilots.
Many are reluctant to come forward and seek help for fear of losing their medical certificates and being put out of work. Obtaining recertification can take months or longer, as the suspended pilot does not receive pay. Meanwhile, some countries prohibit pilots from taking common psychiatric medications such as antidepressants.
“It’s clear that Airmen — and this is very understandable — are often hesitant to apply, knowing that recertification after passing a mental health evaluation can be very daunting and very lengthy,” Cox said.
Guzzetti said the co-pilot of the EgyptAir plane that crashed in 1999 is believed to have intentionally sent it into the ocean off New York. In 2023, in an incident that did not end in a plane crash, an off-duty pilot ingested psychedelic mushrooms days before the accident. Try cutting the engines of a Horizon Air flight while riding out of service in the cockpit.
The plane was flying from Kunming in the southwest to Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, when it plunged at an altitude of about 8,800 meters (29,000 feet). It appeared to recover but then crashed into the mountain. The accident left a crater 65 feet (20 meters) deep and set the forest on fire.
The crew reported no problems before losing contact with air traffic control. Chinese investigators said that no anomalies were found between the plane, the crew, or with external elements such as bad weather.
Cox also said the new report from the NTSB does not indicate any problem with the plane.
The crash on March 21, 2022 was a rare failure for China’s aviation industry, which had dramatically improved safety following deadly crashes in the 1990s. China Eastern is one of the country’s four major state-owned airlines.