Free Republic

U.S. officials believe that the deadly China Eastern jet crash in March may have been intentional, sources told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. According to the sources, data points to the possibility of an intentional nosedive orchestrated by someone in the cockpit, resulting in the deaths of 132 people. The airliner crashed on its way from Kunming, China, to Guangzhou, with reports saying that it seemed to launch into a descent at an almost vertical angle. U.S. accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are aiding the Chinese authorities in their analysis of the incident, which occurred in a...

According to the officials involved the main crater, located in a mountainous area of the Teng region, has an approximate extension of 2500 square meters and has a depth of about twenty meters. Remains of engine blades, part of the left and right horizontal stabilizers, actuators, and other aircraft components have been found there, along with crew certificates. In addition, Zheng Xi, head of the rescue corps, said that human remains were found at the site. The piece found afar from the main crash site is approximately 1.3 meters long and about 10 cm wide and appears to be part...

A China Eastern Airlines Corp passenger plane that had started its night-time descent into a Wuhan airport was forced to abort its landing after air traffic controllers had dozed off ... the China Eastern flight crew made repeated attempts to contact the duty flight controllers at Wuhan Tianhe Airport - twice in English and once in Chinese. Those calls went unanswered. ... China Eastern has suffered other mishaps in recent weeks

Unsanctioned takeoff by Chinese airliner By Dong Zhen | 2011-11-30 APAN'S air watchdog is investigating an apparently hazardous take-off by a Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines plane, which was done against permission of the airport control tower. The Japanese air traffic authority said it seeks to find out exactly why the Chinese plane appeared to have ignored the order to stay on hold on the runway and took off instead on Monday. China Eastern officials said yesterday they had already contacted the Japanese authority conducting the probe. The Japanese air traffic authority said the Chinese plane, carrying 240 passengers, took off...

China Eastern says bailout increased to one billion dollars AFP - Tuesday, December 30 SHANGHAI (AFP) - - China Eastern Airlines, which is struggling with dwindling passenger numbers, said Tuesday a previously planned government cash injection would be more than doubled to over one billion dollars. The country's third-largest carrier will receive the bailout money by selling new shares to its state-owned parent China Eastern Air Holding Company, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It will issue 1.4 billion new yuan-denominated Shanghai-listed A shares to China Eastern Air Holding Company and the same amount in H...

China Eastern Airlines, the mainland's third largest carrier, said its cargo unit will buy two Boeing 747-400 aircraft for total list price of US$428 million (HK$3.3 billion). China Cargo will deploy the planes when they are delivered in July 2006 and August 2007 to expand its operating capacity and enhance the number of routes it operates, said China Eastern in a stock exchange statement Tuesday. The subsidiary is 70 percent owned by China Eastern with the remainder held by mainland shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company. Last year China Eastern recorded a 39 percent increase in revenues from carrying...