China Eastern Airlines grounds all B737-800s after crash

China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) has grounded all of its B737-800s following the crash of B-1791 (msn 41474) in Guangxi on Monday, March 21.

The aircraft was operating flight MU5735 from Kunming Changshui to Guangzhou, carrying 123 passengers and nine crew. It crashed mid-flight, descending rapidly from an altitude of 29,000 feet for reasons yet unknown.

Sources told the Sina news agency that the carrier decided to ground its remaining 106 B737-800s immediately, pending further investigation into the causes of the accident.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has activated emergency procedures to dispatch rescue and investigation teams but has not issued a safety directive mandating the grounding of B737-800s across the country. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that besides the 106 remaining B737-800s operated by China Eastern Airlines, 30 other Chinese carriers operate a total of 1,088 B737-800s.