A newly released report from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests there was a struggle inside the cockpit of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 before it crashed into a mountain in March 2022, killing all 132 people on board. The report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, found that the fuel switches on both engines were moved from the run position to the cut-off position mid-flight, causing engine speeds to decrease and the aircraft to plunge almost vertically from 29,000 feet.
The jet was en route from Kunming to Guangzhou when it went into a nosedive, briefly recovered, then slammed into a mountainside, leaving a 65-foot crater. Chinese investigators reported no abnormalities with the plane, crew, or weather. The cockpit voice recorder may hold crucial clues, but no transcript has been released.
Data from the cockpit controls showed the control wheels moving in a back-and-forth pattern during the dive, which aviation experts say is indicative of a struggle. Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB investigator, told the Associated Press: “Typically when you want to roll an airplane, it’s a smooth movement of the control wheel in one direction. But here you have it moving back and forth, as if someone is trying to counter the initial movement of the roll. It sure has the earmarks of a struggle in the cockpit.”
John Cox, a retired airline pilot and aviation safety consultant, noted that the fuel levers on a 737 cannot be easily bumped or shut off inadvertently; someone must deliberately pull them out to release them. He said the irregular control wheel movement suggests a struggle, but the evidence is not conclusive. Chinese authorities have not yet published a final investigation report.
