The China Eastern Airlines flight that encountered an accident attempted to regain altitude after its initial descent but was unsuccessful, according to real-time flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.
On March 23, the South China Morning Post reported data from FlightRadar24 indicating that there was a control effort on flight MU5735. The aircraft recovered from the first drop and began to climb briefly before descending again.
3D graphic of the final moments of flight MU5735 from China Eastern Airlines on March 21 – (Photo: FLIGHTRADAR24)
Data from FlightRadar24 shows that the aircraft was at an altitude of approximately 8,869 meters before descending rapidly at 2:20 PM on March 21.
Twenty seconds after the initial drop, the aircraft’s speed began to decrease, and in the next 45 seconds, it continued to descend until it reached an altitude of about 2,263 meters above ground. The aircraft then started to climb again.
About 15 seconds later, at an altitude of 2,621 meters above ground, the aircraft began to descend once more. Approximately 30 seconds later, the aircraft crashed to the ground. The last data sent from the ill-fated aircraft’s computer was at 2:22 PM on March 21, at an altitude of 982 meters.
A video circulating on Chinese social media appears to show the aircraft plunging straight down.
FlightRadar24 stated that their data is received “directly” from the computers of the crashed aircraft, with speed changes based on the aircraft’s sensors.
Flight MU5735 took off from Kunming Changshui International Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and encountered the accident while flying over the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the afternoon of March 21.
There were 123 passengers and 9 crew members on board. In the first press conference following the accident on the evening of March 22 (Vietnam time), Chinese aviation officials reported that no survivors or black box had been found yet.
