China Eastern Airlines grounded fleet of 737-800 aircraft following accident

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3 years ago

China Eastern Airlines, the airline that operated the flight that crashed on Monday in the southern province of Guangxi with 132 people on board, canceled more than 1,900 flights on Tuesday, according to the financial media Sina Finance.

This figure represents about 90% of the flights scheduled to operate today throughout China.

The airline, the country’s second largest by number of passengers, ordered on Monday that all its Boeing 737-800s, the model of the plane that crashed, remain grounded until more information is available, according to local press.

→ Airbus and Air France will be tried for 2009 accident.

Other Chinese companies such as Shanghai Airlines and China United Airlines also decided to ground their 737-800s for the time being, EFE reported.

According to data provided by Sina Finance, 23 Chinese airlines have 737-800 models in their fleet, and 853 flights of this model were scheduled in the Asian country on Tuesday.

The plane that crashed on Monday was flying between the cities of Kunming and Guangzhou, took off at 13.15 local time on Monday before plunging to the ground in Guangxi at 14.38 local time, with neither the black boxes nor any survivors having been located so far during the rescue efforts that continue today.

Shortly after the incident, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an investigation to clarify both the causes of the accident “as soon as possible” and other possible safety problems in the civil aviation sector.

The last commercial airliner crash in China occurred in 2010, when an Embraer E-190 aircraft operated by Henan Airlines crashed, killing 44 of the 96 on board.