The mysterious crash of a Boeing 737-800 in China last March may not have been an accident. Flight data from the black box suggests that someone in the cockpit deliberately steered the machine towards the ground. The “Wall Street Journal” reports on this with reference to US officials.
“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the US authorities’ preliminary assessment as saying.
The investigation is being led by China’s civil aviation authority, CAAC. So far, they have not been able to identify any mechanical problems on the aircraft. This is also reported by the airline China Eastern.
In accordance with international air traffic regulations, the US Air Traffic Safety Administration (NTSB) provided technical assistance to the investigation, which is why the flight recorder data was transmitted to the United States. US officials have now taken a closer look at one of the two pilots. The possibility that someone else entered the cockpit to cause the machine to crash cannot be ruled out.
According to the newspaper, US authorities believe the pilot is more likely to be responsible. The CAAC, on the other hand, had announced that there was no suspicion against the pilot. The airline only told The Wall Street Journal that the pilots were in good health and had no family or financial problems.
The analysis of the data is still ongoing and “any unofficial speculation could affect the investigations into the accident”.
After the plane crash in March, the Chinese Communist Party made quick efforts to keep information about the crash under control. After the accident, the Chinese Internet regulator announced that it had removed a large amount of “illegal information” from the Internet.