Today marks the two year anniversary of a China Eastern Boeing 737’s fatal crash in China, killing all 132 people onboard, including 123 passengers and nine crew members. Despite the amount of time that has passed, investigators claim they still have no clue what happened. The question is, do they really not know, or do they just not want to admit it?
In this post:
Chinese regulators have no leads with China Eastern 737 crash
On March 21, 2022, China Eastern flight MU5735 was scheduled to operate from Kunming (KMG) to Guangzhou (CAN). The 665-mile flight was operated by a Boeing 737-800 with the registration code B-1791, first delivered to the airline in 2015.
The flight started routinely, but shortly before the aircraft was scheduled to start its descent, the aircraft entered a sudden nosedive, whereby it descended from 29,100 feet to 7,400 feet. The aircraft briefly leveled off, climbed to 9,225 feet, and then entered a nosedive once again, until it crashed into a mountain. This entire situation took under two minutes, with a maximum descent rate of over 32,000 feet per minute.
Also keep in mind that throughout this entire incident, there was no communication between pilots and air traffic controllers. While the priority is always on aviating over communicating, that’s still quite unusual.
Suffice it to say that this was a terrifying accident, and I feel horribly for what the passengers onboard endured. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has been in charge of the investigation into the accident, though hasn’t had much luck with actually determining the root cause of the accident… or so it claims.
On the two year anniversary of the accident, regulators have issued an updated report on their progress with the crash investigation. The CAAC states that this crash is “very complicated and rare,” though has ruled out a variety of factors. Before the crash, there were no abnormalities with aircraft control commands or with radio communication. Furthermore, there was no bad weather in the area, the plane wasn’t carrying any dangerous goods, and the pilots were fully certified, had sufficient rest, etc.
The CAAC states that it’s continuing to investigate this incident, and will continue to carry out experimental verification and cause analysis, and release relevant information based on the progress of the investigation.
In reality, this latest update provides very little new information compared to what we knew within weeks of the accident.
Do Chinese regulators really not know what happened?
One of the reasons that aviation is so safe is because we learn something from every accident, and make updates to ensure something similar doesn’t happen in the future. Most aviation regulators around the globe do an incredible job with investigating accidents, and making our skies safer.
One certainly can’t help but wonder what’s going on here. Do regulators in China really not know what happened, or are they covering it up? Keep in mind that shortly after the incident, a US official suggested that the accident was intentional, and that someone made the control column input that caused a nosedive.
Everything points to that being the case. Planes don’t just suddenly go into a nosedive for no reason, especially with no evidence of a technical fault. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like any control column was jammed, based on the fact that the plane briefly leveled off, and then once again entered a nosedive.
If this was intentional, the logical question is who caused this. Was it one of the pilots? Did someone else take control of the aircraft? It’s interesting to look at who was in the cockpit, as there were three pilots:
- The captain was a 32-year-old who had 6,709 flight hours
- The first officer was a 59-year-old who had 31,769 flight hours, who was a flight instructor for China Eastern and trained more than 100 captains, and who had been awarded the honorary title of “Meritorious Pilot” of civil aviation in 2011
- The second officer was a 27-year-old who had a total of 556 flight hours, but he was just observing the cockpit and was being trained, and wasn’t actually flying
Looking at those three pilots, there’s one person who stands out. The first officer was literally one of China’s most experienced pilots, had received awards for his piloting, and was a training captain… yet he was now only a first officer on the Boeing 737?!
It’s my understanding that shortly before the accident, he had been demoted from captain to first officer, for having failed some simulator tests (which is concerning in its own right, when you consider he was a training captain). This obviously comes with a major pay cut, and that can put financial stress on anyone.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was the one who intentionally crashed the plane, though it makes you wonder if there may have been more clues pointing to that. There are all kinds of rumors regarding unusual behavior from the first officer in the days leading up to the accident, though regulators haven’t stated anything publicly about that.
I have to imagine that the Chinese government knows a lot more than it’s saying. Keep in mind that China Eastern is majority owned by the Chinese government. It doesn’t look good for any airline when a crash happens due to something like a pilot intentionally downing the plane.
The other thing is that regulators can’t easily lie and claim there was some aircraft fault, since obviously Boeing and other global investigators would seek verification of that. So it almost seems like the CAAC is trying to sweep this under the rug by being as vague as possible, hoping that eventually people just stop caring.
Bottom line
It’s the two year anniversary of the crash of a Chinese Eastern Boeing 737, whereby the plane plunged into a mountain in under two minutes, tragically leading to the death of 132 people. Even two years later, investigators in China claim they have no clue what happened, though note that nothing was wrong with the plane, the radio communication, the weather, or the cargo.
Everything is pointing in one direction, yet the CAAC is doing very little to acknowledge that. I’m curious if we’ll ever learn more about what really happened.
What do you think — will we ever learn the truth of what happened with China Eastern flight 5735?
So there is not much of an update but you dedicate an entire article to it....
Hi! You're new!
Because if you weren't new you'd know that this isn't an "article," it's a blog entry on the Ben-run-and-owned One Mile at a Time. That means Ben posts what HE finds interesting; usually others find it interesting, too. That you don't, and then comment on it, changes...precisely nothing, and that's also what you've added to the discussion down here.
Welcome, newbie!
Thank you for your article, Sir. I had wondered why 59-year-old First Officer Zhang Zhengping had been demoted. I guessed he had either started making mistakes at work (executive dysfunction), started swearing and screaming at coworkers (emotional lability) or sexually harassed someone. Looks like it was executive dysfunction since he started failing simulator tests.
I am not a scientist or a doctor, but I research wife murders and family massacres that I believe are committed...
Thank you for your article, Sir. I had wondered why 59-year-old First Officer Zhang Zhengping had been demoted. I guessed he had either started making mistakes at work (executive dysfunction), started swearing and screaming at coworkers (emotional lability) or sexually harassed someone. Looks like it was executive dysfunction since he started failing simulator tests.
I am not a scientist or a doctor, but I research wife murders and family massacres that I believe are committed by men who have developed behavioral variant frontototemporal dementia (FTD): Psychopathic Presentation. I believe damage to this small subset first starts in the right anterior temporal lobe. It is estimated that up to 50% of people who develop bvFTD commit crimes for the first time in their lives, but usually nonviolent crimes such as shoplifting candy or speeding.
FTD is the most common type of young-onset dementia, typically striking people in their 40s to 60s. There are 3 variants - language, motor and behavioral, and each variant has different presentations. I focus on the behavioral variant.
Some people may present with hoarding, for example, or childlike behavior. Others present with apathy or disinhibition (think of your typical “midlife crisis” scenario of a 50-year-old husband and dad who after bulking up and buying a new wardrobe and sports car leaves the family for a woman he met on a dating site). I believe many midlife divorces are the result of the disinhibited presentation. And then some people present with executive dysfunction or alcoholism and drug taking (I think in an effort to self-medicate).
The men I study through newspaper articles and news reports make headlines for suddenly “snapping” and killing their wives and/or children, although family, friends and colleagues insist that the man they knew, often for decades, was a loving and wonderful husband and father.
I have turned my attention to a few airline disasters because what information I manage to glean from news reports suggests that some of them fit the pattern of the disease I study. Symptoms are subtle at first, and they are gradual, but they are inexorable. I have determined that we have 2 to 4 years to recognize what is going on in their brains before the “threshold event.”
You mention in your article that there were rumors of unusual behavior exhibited by First Officer Zhang Zhengping in the days leading up to the crash. It is imperative we know what those behaviors were. I also suspect, as mentioned earlier, that changes in behavior may have started much earlier, but people around him understandably shrugged them off at first since they may have been uncharacteristic, but not necessarily concerning.
It was reported that 59-year-old First Officer Gameel Al-Batouti of the Egyptair crash in 1999 had exhibited worrying behaviors up to 2 years before that plane went down. He had shown inappropriate behavior toward women, for example, exposing himself to a couple women from his hotel room window, and he also sexually harassed a hotel maid shortly before that crash. I believe the hypersexual component of the disease had kicked in.
It was reported that 53-year-old Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah of MH370 was experiencing marital problems, had committed adultery, and was stalking a young model on Instagram. I wonder if his ranting against the Malaysian government and harassing the model were due to the obsessive component of the disease. They often develop new obsessions and/or a fixation on a person. His friends thought he had depression, which is a very common misdiagnosis. Others are anxiety, OCD, ADHD, stress, late-onset bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
Another core feature of the disease is unrestrained spending, for example, taking out loans, credit cards, buying properties, cars, etc., bad investments, or refusing to pay taxes. Sometimes a new gambling habit emerges. It is not at all unusual for these guys to bankrupt their families.
Yes, women do develop the disease I think they have but are not diagnosed with, but they tend to commit sex crimes or embezzle from work, although I wonder about the 56-year-old Alabama corrections officer who broke her inmate lover out of jail in 2022.
A friend of the captain of MH370 and who also investigated the crash refuses to believe that the man he knew for 30 years could possibly have brought down his flight killing everyone on board. If I am correct in my theory that the captain was extremely unwell, I want his friend to know that the man he knew was already gone.
So too, the Chinese government officials who are investigating the crash of MU5735 should know that while indeed rare, the cause of the crash is not complicated if First Officer Zhang Zhengping’s brain was riddled with misfolded proteins and was disintegrating. Damage likely started in the right hemisphere and the moral/emotional/empathy circuitry of the brain was badly damaged along with the Affiliation network.
Investigators often conclude that the spouse murders and family massacres I amateurishly study are committed by these middle age people because of marital breakdown, bankruptcy, job demotions/job loss, combined with emotional problems, but I believe the murders could be the result of a disease that started a few years before.
Thank you.
Wow, well written & proposed, Julie. I just saw on YT this morning multiple videos of 60-minutes delving into this FTD subject.
Thank you, TL. They do a great job of delving into the language and the apathetic presentation of the behavioral variant.
CRAZZY!
Julie,
That’s so interesting. It sure sounds like you may be onto something.
Thank you, John.
You base your research on newspaper articles and news reports??? Amazing! You use the most unreliable sources for research. No wonder you can make research papers say anything.
Only a fool buys what Chinese government says now. first officer also had financial stress as reported.
Thankfully, neither Boeing nor the US government have ever lied or been incompetent.
Fair enough. But the NTSB is politically independent, and I'm very confident that if the same thing had happened in the USA, it would actually state in the report that the crash was likely a pilot murder-suicide. Boeing and the US government have their problems, but this particular form of dishonesty wouldn't happen here.
And you seem to believe that has _____ to do with this?
"The flight started routinely, but shortly before the aircraft was scheduled to start its descent, the aircraft entered a sudden nosedive, whereby it descended from 29,100 feet to 7,400 feet"
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #1 attempts suicide.
"The aircraft briefly leveled off, climbed to 9,225 feet"
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #2 temporarily regains control.
"and then entered a nosedive once again, until it crashed into a mountain."
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #2 loses control again and...
"The flight started routinely, but shortly before the aircraft was scheduled to start its descent, the aircraft entered a sudden nosedive, whereby it descended from 29,100 feet to 7,400 feet"
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #1 attempts suicide.
"The aircraft briefly leveled off, climbed to 9,225 feet"
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #2 temporarily regains control.
"and then entered a nosedive once again, until it crashed into a mountain."
UncleRonnie's opinion: Pilot #2 loses control again and Pilot #1 takes everyone with him to oblivion. This situation isn't clear on later examination of flight data, so Boeing can't say exactly what happened.
UncleRonnie's summary: Chinese Govt embarrassed by likely pilot suicide and so everyone just covers it up.
You're welcome.
That seems likely but it seems interesting that one pilot was able to crash the plane while fighting off the other two.
When reading reports from a Sinosphere government, what’s unsaid is as important as what is said, as people just don’t want to take political responsibilities and still want to tell you things. This is the same thing when Japanese government tells their people masks are “theoretically optional”. That “theoretically” means something more than the word itself.
Rumors spread about the reason while the gov report cleared up other causes, which means *affirmation* of the...
When reading reports from a Sinosphere government, what’s unsaid is as important as what is said, as people just don’t want to take political responsibilities and still want to tell you things. This is the same thing when Japanese government tells their people masks are “theoretically optional”. That “theoretically” means something more than the word itself.
Rumors spread about the reason while the gov report cleared up other causes, which means *affirmation* of the reason guessed.
They just don’t want to openly admit it. The reason behind? It’s better unsaid, but you know.
Thank you!!! It's such a basic point of Chinese/Japanese/Korean communication culture that others (i.e. westerners) generally don't know. But once you realize it, you learn so much more. Pay attention to what ISN'T being said, as much as what is being said. In the west, we have a similar concept called "reading between the lines", so it's not actually a strange foreign concept to grasp, if you just pay attention.
Yes, although most Asians cultures require much more reading between the lines, since citizenry generally all share similar cultural backgrounds (unlike countries where immigration is a larger part of society, and cultural background cannot be assumed).
Why is it that folks always say that the Chinese government is not trustworthy or credible, but they don't say the same about the United States government? I always find that interesting.
We don't even have all of the facts about 9/11 and that was over 2 decades ago.
Mm hm.
And Ukraine should be taken over by Russia because Putin is actually a good guy.
What does Q think? That will help guide us.
whataboutism troll
These same people who don't trust the Chinese government think the whistle blower testifying against the US government military contractor Boeing, committed suicide, right before he was going home, and after telling his friend that if he's found dead, it's not suicide.
The US government always needs a foreign enemy to distract the public from internal corruption and the public, laps it up.
Regarding your comment about Mr. Barnett, according to his family, he was depressed. His lifelong sweetheart wife died of brain cancer 18 months prior and he left a note. His testimony was locked in with the deposition. There is an ongoing investigation. But you choose to use this sadness for your political agenda. Pathetic.
Someone was likely murdered and the delusional levels of naivete, for political reasons, is honestly disgusting. But I don't expect better from most of this crowd.
When you say, "someone was likely murdered", I guess you don't believe the coroner or investigative reports then. Because they say nothing of that nature.
There are hundreds of people who have inside knowledge of Boeing and their business practices. I guess Boeing is just going to hire to kill them all.
The coroner describes the physical cause of death, they are not compelled to assign reason nor motive to such, if not obvious on its face...
...and that is the reason you will almost always find "apparent" prior to their description of a "self-inflicted gunshot wound," because they are NOT...
The coroner describes the physical cause of death, they are not compelled to assign reason nor motive to such, if not obvious on its face...
...and that is the reason you will almost always find "apparent" prior to their description of a "self-inflicted gunshot wound," because they are NOT eliminating the possibility, plausibility, nor probability of such a wound being caused by a source other than the victim.
Do you even know how CCP operates? It seems like you know very little about CCP China. Even Chinese people trusts US government more than their own.
Your conspiratorial comments non-withstanding, US government is one of the more open government that makes most of its documents public and explains most of its decisions. Do you see CCP have anything remotely close to FOIA?
Ummm you clearly haven't been paying attention. Covid alone demonstrates how Americans will freak out over anything and blame the govt. The biggest difference is for example the 2 initial Chinese doctors who brought up covid in china.. Dragged away and dead. While the USA govt does what it does we at least can openly criticize (but not go bat siit crazy and storm the capital) and not get dragged off in public. While the...
Ummm you clearly haven't been paying attention. Covid alone demonstrates how Americans will freak out over anything and blame the govt. The biggest difference is for example the 2 initial Chinese doctors who brought up covid in china.. Dragged away and dead. While the USA govt does what it does we at least can openly criticize (but not go bat siit crazy and storm the capital) and not get dragged off in public. While the citizens of USA would have a tough fight we nonetheless CAN. Try that in China and you plus your family and your dog will get dragged off with no impunity. That's the difference. If you don't understand that I suggest living in China for a few months and then report back.
Now tell us about the Jews why don't you?
Since it is a Boeing plane, wouldn't the US have access to the flight and data recorders? What was picked up on those? If not, why have the Chinese regulators not provided access?
The flight and data recorders were recovered and sent to US for analysis. Nothing was revealed by US side, either.
There was an NTSB leak shortly after they received the black boxes. According to the source, all signs post preliminary analysis indicated intentional CFIT.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-eastern-black-box-points-to-intentional-nosedive-11652805097?st=ak9t39q10vdtdcx&reflink=article_copyURL_share
"I have to imagine that the Chinese government knows a lot more than it’s saying."
The Chinese government *always* knows a lot more than it's saying. Welcome to the latest example.