A China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in China’s southern province of Guangxi in March this year was likely intentionally crashed, according to US media.
The Boeing 737, carrying 132 passengers, was flying at high altitude when it crashed, killing everyone on board the plane. It is the deadliest air disaster in China in the past 28 years.
A Wall Street Journal report cites an analysis by US officials that suggests the plane was made to nose dive and there were no technical errors.
Data obtained from the black box indicates that someone in the cockpit had intentionally crashed the plane, according to the report. “The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” he wrote – citing his sources.
China Eastern Airlines also said the three pilots on board were in good health and had no financial problems either. Aviation experts said the accident resembled the Germanwings crash in 2015 due to the lack of a reported distress call or any loss of data signal.
Chinese authorities had also said no emergency codes were sent from the plane, indicating it was unlikely that cockpit security had been compromised.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is investigating the accident. US officials are also involved in the investigation because the plane was American-made.
The CAAC had earlier said reports that the plane deliberately crashed were interfering with its investigation. Investigators are still analyzing data recovered from the wreckage.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing declined to comment on the information. “Under the accident investigation rules … only the investigating body can comment on an investigation of an outdoor accident,” a Boeing spokesperson told the BBC.