China Eastern 737-800 crash

[DXB]

Not sure this is relevant to Mooney safety so I am depositing it in here miscellaneous:  https://www.flyingmag.com/one-black-box-recovered-from-eastern-china-accident/?fbclid=IwAR3Lot15iU19Xi3GMKeCUjj9JDU8lNGyahrGsUDVfJ9Zv4iLVDLHTjMKun0

Do any of the seasoned ATPs here, some of whom I know even have 737 experience, have any reaction to this crash?  It's a two minute descent from 29,000 ft cruise in good weather into a smoking crater, with maybe a very brief level off and climb occurring around 8000 ft. No distress call. Final pics show a near vertical nose down attitude with parts of the airframe being shed. I imagine pilot training and operations are rather different in China, but they have a good safety record over the past two decades. The only thing this reminds me of are the pilot suicide/mass homicide cases (e.g. Germanwings 9525).  To think it was a major mechanical failure on a relatively new and highly ubiquitous airframe is perhaps even more chilling. 

[GeeBee]

Just an irritating point. You would think a premier aviation publication like Flying would at least picture the correct aircraft when discussing the accident. Looks like amateur hour over at Flying and I suspect the publication is going to the dogs.

As to the cause, the 737-800 is a very reliable airframe and has almost 25 years of service. It was in the hands of Chinese crews however and that is always suspect. Heck they rarely manually land their airplanes so there is too much to unpack here to for it to make sense. Just have to wait.

[LANCECASPER]

You would also think they might be able to get the altitude correct.  They were cruising at 29100 on flightradar24 (https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/1505863117343014916/photo/2), but Flying has 21900 in their article.

[carusoam]

Honeywell is the manufacturer of record for the two black boxes…

There are at least two grainy security or dashboard cams showing near vertical descent…. During the last 1k’

The flight radar 24 data shows the plane stopping the descent and climbing for a bit….  (This had to generate huge g forces)

There is probably important plane parts left in the next town over…

 

PP speculation / observations only…

A sad story either way…

Prayers for the lost…

See what happens next…

A tangle of metal and human remains at the bottom of a 20’ hole?

How hard is it to find the other black box?

 

Best regards,

-a-

[flyboy0681]

13 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Just an irritating point. You would think a premier aviation publication like Flying would at least picture the correct aircraft when discussing the accident. Looks like amateur hour over at Flying and I suspect the publication is going to the dogs.

 

Not as irritating as seeing pictures of pilots wearing their uniform cap and jackets while seated behind the controls.

[EricJ]

13 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Looks like amateur hour over at Flying and I suspect the publication is going to the dogs.

I get that impression, too.   It's under new ownership/management that is making a lot of changes and it looks to me like they're mostly in a bad direction.

[0TreeLemur]

14 hours ago, carusoam said:

There is probably important plane parts left in the next town over…

 

Agree.  Massive system or structural failure seems the only explanation other than deliberate action...  Went from 0 to -30,000 fpm VS in 15 seconds.   Taking the ADS-B values at face value, one calculates -1.03 g.  It went into a free fall.  Like the Vomit Comet, but with a much less desirable outcome.

[Mooneymite]

Juan usually does an outstanding job.

 

[V1VRV2]

Suicide… that’s where my money is going.

[carusoam]

The only news so far…

Both black boxes have been dug up / recovered…

https://www.newsweek.com/china-eastern-airlines-crash-flight-5735-1693322

 

10 days have passed…

How long does it take to say… I have the box, this is what it is going to take to get the info out of them….?

Does somebody not want that info to come out?

Crickets….?

-a-

[MikeOH]

21 hours ago, carusoam said:

The only news so far…

Both black boxes have been dug up / recovered…

https://www.newsweek.com/china-eastern-airlines-crash-flight-5735-1693322

 

10 days have passed…

How long does it take to say… I have the box, this is what it is going to take to get the info out of them….?

Does somebody not want that info to come out?

Crickets….?

-a-

Coming from China, does withholding information really surprise you?

[carusoam]

29 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

Coming from China, does withholding information really surprise you?

English broadcasts coming out of China can be scary…

The speaker tries to artfully stick to a script…

But when asked questions… their level of fear increases when they start running out of artful dodges… in their second language…

 

My favorite broadcaster in China….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_Yoon

 

One day something will be broadcast…. And then it will be replacement time…

Freedom of the press definitely has some value.

Best regards,

-a-

[A64Pilot]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:38 AM, V1VRV2 said:

Suicide… that’s where my money is going.

I think that’s more common than we want to think, I can think of I believe about six instances

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_by_pilot