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Investigators say a struggle between pilots may have occurred aboard the China Eastern Airlines jet that crashed four years ago, killing all 132 people on board.
The New York Times, citing aviation experts who analyzed a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, reported the crash may have unfolded amid a dispute between the captain and the first officer in the cockpit.
On March 21, 2022, China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735, a Boeing 737, departed Kunming bound for Guangzhou. At roughly 8,800 meters (about 28,870 ft) it entered a near-vertical descent and crashed into mountainous terrain. Authorities still have not determined a definitive cause, but the steep vertical drop has fueled theories that the crash may have been deliberate.
Jeff Guzetti, a former NTSB investigator, told the Times the flight-data recorder indicates either the captain or the first officer actuated the cutoff lever (fuel switch), cutting fuel to the engines and causing them to shut down.
Guzetti said the data show the airplane rolled at least once through 360 degrees as it descended, and that the control columns (yokes) were observed rotating during that maneuver. The cockpit had a yoke in front of both the captain and the first officer. The yokes moved erratically back and forth during the event, which Guzetti said could reflect both pilots manipulating the controls in opposite directions during a struggle.
He described the steep descent and violent roll as deliberate actions and said the irregular forward-and-back movement of the control columns is consistent with a cockpit altercation.
John Cox, an aviation-safety consultant and former pilot, said the erratic yoke movements could suggest a struggle in the cockpit but stopped short of calling them conclusive proof of an intentional act.
The NTSB released its report under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The requester’s identity was not disclosed. The NTSB did not release data from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which could offer additional context about what happened in the cockpit.
China’s Foreign Ministry and the Civil Aviation Administration did not respond to requests for comment about the NTSB report.
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