China Eastern Flight 5735 crash was a deliberate cockpit act, NTSB says
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 7
China Eastern Flight 5735 crash was a deliberate cockpit act, NTSB says
6 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 7
More than four years after the disaster, data indicates both engine cutoff levers were pressed mid-flight on the Boeing 737 from Kunming to Guangzhou, killing all 132 people aboard.
Former US investigator Jeff Guzzetti said the simultaneous fuel shutoff was followed almost immediately by a steep dive, at least one 360-degree roll and signs of a struggle over the controls.
The March 2022 crash had remained unexplained, with little public evidence from Chinese authorities, while the aircraft plunged from 29,000 feet into a hillside and buried wreckage deep underground.
Why did it take four years to learn a pilot likely crashed China Eastern 5735 deliberately?
Could new cockpit safety measures have prevented the deliberate downing of Flight 5735?
NTSB Confirms Intentional Sabotage in China Eastern Flight MU5735 Crash: Four Years of Silence and Global Safety Fallout
Overview
In early 2026, the NTSB confirmed that the crash of China Eastern Flight MU5735 in 2022 was caused by a deliberate manual fuel cutoff in the cockpit, leading to a violent, near-vertical dive and the fatal crash. Despite clear evidence, the Chinese authorities withheld the cockpit voice recorder audio and have not released a final accident report, causing international criticism and obstructing a full understanding of the incident. This lack of transparency has intensified global calls for improved cockpit security, mental health screening, and real-time flight data transmission. Meanwhile, the families of the 132 victims continue to suffer from unresolved grief and demand accountability amid ongoing political tensions.