On 21 March 2022, Boeing 737-800 B-1791 of Eastern Airlines Yunnan Company Limited, on flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, was cruising in the Guangzhou control area when it descended rapidly from a cruising altitude of 8,900m and eventually crashed near Mo Pai Village, Puanan Town, Wuzhou County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The aircraft disintegrated after hitting the ground, killing all 123 passengers and 9 crew members on board.
According to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, within 30 days of the date of the accident, the State organising the investigation is required to send a preliminary report to ICAO and the participating States, usually containing factual information currently available, excluding an analysis of the cause of the accident and conclusions. The preliminary report on the investigation of the MU5735 flight accident has been completed, which mainly includes information on the flight, crew, airworthiness and maintenance, wreckage distribution and other facts. The main facts are as follows.
The aircraft took off from Runway 21 of Kunming Changshui Airport at 13:16 BST, rose to a cruising altitude of 8900m at 13:27, entered the Guangzhou control area at 14:17 along the A599 route, and at 14:20:55 the Guangzhou regional control radar showed a "deviation from command altitude" warning. At 14:21:40, the radar last recorded the following information: standard pressure altitude 3380m, ground speed 1010km/h, heading 117 degrees. The radar signal then disappeared.
The accident site is located in a southeast to northwest trending valley near Mo Pai Village, Puanan Town, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A puddle with an area of about 45 square metres and a depth of 2.7 metres was visible at the scene, which was determined to be the main impact point at 23°19′25.52″N, 111°06′44.30″E. Debris from the wreckage was found mainly on the surface and underground within a bearing of 0° to 150° from the impact site. The trailing edge of the right wingtiplet was found approximately 12km from the main impact point. There were signs of overfiring of the mountain vegetation at the accident site. Major wreckage was found at the site, including horizontal stabilisation surfaces, vertical tail, rudder, left and right engines, left and right wings, fuselage components, landing gear and cockpit interior parts. All wreckage was searched and collected from the scene and transferred to a dedicated warehouse for cleaning and identification, and placed in correspondence with the actual size and position of the aircraft to facilitate subsequent inspection and analysis.
After investigation, the qualifications of the flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance and release personnel on duty met the requirements; the airworthiness certificate of the aircraft involved in the accident was valid, the last A-check (31A) and the last C-check (3C) of the aircraft did not exceed the inspection time limit specified in the maintenance programme; no faults were reported before the flight and short stop and release on that day, and no faults were retained; there was no cargo declared as dangerous goods on board; the navigation and surveillance facilities and equipment along the route involved in the flight were not abnormal. There were no abnormalities in the navigation and surveillance facilities and equipment along the route involved in the flight, and no dangerous weather forecast; before deviating from the cruise altitude, there were no abnormalities in the radio communication and control command between the crew and the air traffic control department, and the last normal land-to-air call was made at 14:16; the two recorders on board were severely damaged due to the impact, and the data repair and analysis work is still in progress.
The technical investigation team will continue to carry out in-depth investigation work such as identification, classification and inspection of the wreckage, flight data analysis and necessary experimental verification in accordance with relevant procedures to scientifically and rigorously identify the cause of the accident.
Translated with
www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)