New NTSB Report Into Deadly China Eastern Crash Suggests Struggle in Cockpit

For more than four years, the final moments of China Eastern Flight 5735 remained shrouded in secrecy, with few clues to a baffling descent from 29,000 feet that left no survivors. Now, new data from the Boeing 737 suggests the crash was no accident. The plane’s fatal dive was a deliberate act initiated from within the cockpit, aviation experts say, following what appears to have been a struggle for control of the aircraft. The plane, which was operated by highly experienced pilots, had been traveling from Kunming, in southwestern China,…

China Eastern Crash Report Doesn’t Explain Why the Jet Plummeted

BEIJING — The pilots had met China’s standards for flying a commercial jet. No problems were found with the aircraft before it took off. No dangerous cargo had been loaded aboard. Communications with the plane appeared normal until its deadly plunge. A preliminary report released on Wednesday by China’s aviation safety regulator failed to dispel much of the mystery about why a China Eastern jet suddenly went into a nosedive in clear weather last month and crashed into a muddy hillside, killing all 132 people aboard. The report mainly cataloged…