China Eastern Airlines Crash Was Intentional
- Thread starter billt460
- Start date
Pilot suicide?
Sad 
Not for the other 131.
Murdered those people.
The video of the nearly vertical dive is haunting. It is very difficult to get a plane to do that, as when speeds increase, the natural tendency of a plane is to pitch up. Of course when going near supersonic, things can change, but I think the ADSB data shows this plane's airspeed was well within the limits of controllability. Anyway, a horrible situation.
Wall Street Journal
May 17, 2022. 12:31 p.m.
This is part of the breaking article at WSJ.com:
“Flight data indicates someone in the cockpit intentionally crashed a China Eastern jet earlier this year, according to people familiar with U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident.
The Boeing 737-800 was cruising at high altitude when it suddenly pitched into a near-vertical descent, plummeting into a mountain at extreme speed. Data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive, these people said.
“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” said a person who is familiar with American officials’ preliminary assessment, which includes an analysis of information extracted from the plane’s damaged flight-data recorder.
Also underpinning the American officials’ assessment, this person said: Chinese authorities, who are leading the investigation, so far haven’t flagged any mechanical or flight-control problems with the plane involved in the March 21 crash in southern China.
The information gathered so far in the China Eastern probe has led U.S. officials involved with the investigation to turn their attention to the actions of a pilot, people familiar with the matter said. There is also a possibility that someone else on the plane could have broken into the cockpit and deliberately caused the crash, these people said.
Accident investigations can turn up previously unknown evidence that can bolster or undermine preliminary assessments. One person familiar with the U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment said the Americans don’t have all information available to their Chinese counterparts.
The U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment hasn’t been reported before. In April, the trade publication Leeham News and Analysis reported that an initial readout of the China Eastern plane’s flight-data recorder suggested deliberate pilot inputs into the controls.
Asked about a possible cockpit intrusion, China Eastern said such a scenario wasn’t plausible. The airline cited information from a March 25 news conference in which Chinese authorities said no emergency code had been sent from the plane before the crash.”
May 17, 2022. 12:31 p.m.
This is part of the breaking article at WSJ.com:
“Flight data indicates someone in the cockpit intentionally crashed a China Eastern jet earlier this year, according to people familiar with U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident.
The Boeing 737-800 was cruising at high altitude when it suddenly pitched into a near-vertical descent, plummeting into a mountain at extreme speed. Data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive, these people said.
“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” said a person who is familiar with American officials’ preliminary assessment, which includes an analysis of information extracted from the plane’s damaged flight-data recorder.
Also underpinning the American officials’ assessment, this person said: Chinese authorities, who are leading the investigation, so far haven’t flagged any mechanical or flight-control problems with the plane involved in the March 21 crash in southern China.
The information gathered so far in the China Eastern probe has led U.S. officials involved with the investigation to turn their attention to the actions of a pilot, people familiar with the matter said. There is also a possibility that someone else on the plane could have broken into the cockpit and deliberately caused the crash, these people said.
Neither Boeing Co. nor air-safety regulators have been working on any service bulletins or safety directives stemming from the crash, people familiar with the matter said. Such messages would be used if authorities believed there was a need to alert airlines and pilots to problems the flight crew encountered in the accident or detail needed fixes to the aircraft.
Accident investigations can turn up previously unknown evidence that can bolster or undermine preliminary assessments. One person familiar with the U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment said the Americans don’t have all information available to their Chinese counterparts.
The U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment hasn’t been reported before. In April, the trade publication Leeham News and Analysis reported that an initial readout of the China Eastern plane’s flight-data recorder suggested deliberate pilot inputs into the controls.
Asked about a possible cockpit intrusion, China Eastern said such a scenario wasn’t plausible. The airline cited information from a March 25 news conference in which Chinese authorities said no emergency code had been sent from the plane before the crash.”
With the declining aircraft safety records, poor maintenance, terrorists, bombs, proliferation of anti-aircraft weaponry, and suicidal pilots I'm simply glad I just don't have to fly any more. Never had a fear of it, but it was always a PITA after 9/11/01 and the enjoyment wore off, and the reality of your fragility is ever-present.
If it crashed vertically at, or even near supersonic speed, it's amazing there was such a large piece of the winglet left. That's over 1,000 feet per second straight into the ground. Faster than a .45 ACP at the muzzle.
I think the USA has done a great job of maintaining aviation safety. The last passenger airliner crash was when? Certainly, our pilots are among the worlds most competent.
And, as much as we all love to attack the FAA, they have done an amazing job of first addressing the issues that cost the most lives. Sure, we can complain about all sorts of things, but in the end, the policies and procedures they put in place have been more effective than those from the rest of the world combined.
In my world of General Aviation, we continue to lose small aircraft at rates that are far higher than the airlines. There are many reasons for this, but in the end, there is a risk distinction between privately owned, non transport category aircraft, and "transport category" airlines. The US Government has decided that 12,500 pounds denotes small aircraft v. large. Same goes for 10 or more pax. In the end, Large aircraft, or 10+ pax puts sufficient members of the public at risk, and is much more heavily regulated.
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Declining? Sure…whatever…
Don’t let the facts get in the way of your opinion!
Aviation safety continues to improve every year. Airlines have never been safer.
It’s getting better, not declining.
Let’s not forget that the safety record in the US and Europe is several times better than in other parts of the world, including China and Africa.
But one has to actually read news, not watch TV, not pay attention to click bait garbage on the internet, and then think critically, to understand that aviation safety is continuing to improve.
One has to avoid being swayed by the sensational headlines like this crash.
Some people are easily fooled by headlines, click bait, and emotional thinking.
I‘m sorry that you don’t want to fly, let me know how that vacation to Europe, or Hawaii, looks when you plan your road trip to get there…
I've heard of a few people who managed to hitch a ride on a container ship.
Even a cruise ship.
https://www.princess.com/search-cruise/results/?trade=H
There is nothing wrong with the airlines, safety records, maintenance, planes, or pilots and flight attendants. It's the passengers who have turned into a bunch of wild, undisciplined animals.
Flying used to attract a classy grade of clientele. Now they act like a bunch of rejects from a Barnum & Bailey sideshow. Perhaps with the skyrocketing fuel and operating costs coming, they'll have to raise ticket prices to the point where these clowns will have to go back to taking the bus.
Flying used to attract a classy grade of clientele. Now they act like a bunch of rejects from a Barnum & Bailey sideshow. Perhaps with the skyrocketing fuel and operating costs coming, they'll have to raise ticket prices to the point where these clowns will have to go back to taking the bus.
I’ve been across the Atlantic on the QE 2. Wonderful experience. Took six days at 28 knots cruise speed (she’s capable of faster, but this was just after the spike in oil prices in 1974, a time not unlike our present, so they added a day to reduce the fuel burn).I've heard of a few people who managed to hitch a ride on a container ship.
Even a cruise ship.
https://www.princess.com/search-cruise/results/?trade=H
Also, it cost several times what an airline ticket costs.
Fabulous option if you have both lots of time and lots of money. You’ll need both in abundance.
You should be aware that cargo ships cruise at fuel efficient speeds, like 15 knots, so crossing the Atlantic might take two weeks, while crossing the Pacific can take more like a month.
Given the speed, and accommodations, that cargo ship option looks, well, like prison, actually, but with a much higher chance of drowning...
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MolaKule
Staff member
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Hey, it’s a major award!
The container ship actually isn't that bad. Most of the rear area is for cars, where Matson is the leading shipper of cars from the mainland to Hawaii.
I can't find anything showing the crew quarters on that ship, but here's one for another one (the Maersk Ohio built by Hyundai Shipbuilding):
I'd be worried more about pirates, like with the Maersk Alabama. I guess SEAL Team Six isn't always there to save captains from their bad decisions.
I’ve actually met Captain Phillips, on a flight from Kuwait to Dulles. Very nice man, from Underhill, VT. We chatted a bit as we sat next to each other.
I‘m not certain that it was his bad decision alone that got him in trouble. Poor risk assessment by Maersk, poor dispatching (or the ship equivalent) and/or time pressure by his company led to him being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Still, the accommodations on the Queen Mary look quite nice, and the speed is a plus.
I’ve crossed the ocean many times at a fuel economy speed.
Not that much fun.
I‘m not certain that it was his bad decision alone that got him in trouble. Poor risk assessment by Maersk, poor dispatching (or the ship equivalent) and/or time pressure by his company led to him being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Still, the accommodations on the Queen Mary look quite nice, and the speed is a plus.
I’ve crossed the ocean many times at a fuel economy speed.
Not that much fun.
So jilted lover thing or valuable passengers on board or ??
