Assistance prepared for investigation

Rescue work continued on Tuesday after a passenger plane with 132 people aboard crashed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Monday afternoon. [Photo/Xinhua]

Boeing China said it is working with its airline customers and is ready to support them after a nearly 7-year-old Boeing 737-800 passenger jet of China Eastern Airlines, with 132 people on board, crashed in the mountains of southern China on Monday.

"Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew members of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735. Boeing is in contact with the United States National Transportation Safety Board and our technical experts are prepared to assist with the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China," Boeing China said in a statement on Tuesday.

The flight from Kunming, Yunnan province, to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, reached a cruise altitude of nearly 9,000 meters shortly after departing from Kunming at 1:11 pm on Monday. At 2:19 pm, it plunged nearly 8,000 meters in three minutes and crashed on the mountain, according to data from flight-radar24, a global flight tracking service provider. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

The Boeing 737-800 passenger jet is one of the company's most widely used aircraft. China Eastern Airlines suspended all the Boeing 737-800 jets after the crash.

According to a Boeing annual summary of commercial jet accidents, from 2011 to 2020, 13 percent of fatal accidents occurred while cruising and more than half the fatal accidents occurred during the final approach and landing.

"This report provides the opportunity for a moment of reflection－about the improvements that have been made and the work we have yet to collectively do for the crews, passengers and those who create and maintain jet airplanes," Elisabeth Martin, Boeing vice-president, wrote in the summary.

"Aviation safety is a journey of continuous improvement," she wrote.

According to the report, in 2020, Boeing commercial jets were involved in 17 accidents worldwide. Five of the 17 involved 737-800 passenger jets from 7 to 21 years old, and people were killed in two of those.

On Feb 5, 2020, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Pegasus Airlines overran the end of the runway and crashed when landing in Istanbul, Turkey. Three people died and 179 were injured.

On Aug 7, 2020, a Boeing 737-800 overran the runway and crashed during landing in Calicut, India. Twenty-one people died and 75 were seriously injured.

According to the Boeing report, the percentage of fatal accidents has decreased over the years. Of the 2,082 accidents from 1959 to 2020,638, or 31 percent, included fatalities.

From 2011 to 2020, there were 320 accidents, and 39 of them, 12 percent of the total, included fatalities.