China plane tragedy: Boeing 737-800 NG has been considered safest, but it has a history of crashes
According to Airsafe.com, the single-aisle jet that preceded the 737 Max has had only 0.07 fatal crashes per million flights as of 2019, making it one of the safest models in the skies
Debris seen at the site of a plane crash in Tengxian County in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. AP
A China Eastern Boeing 737-800 NG with 132 people on board crashed in a remote mountainous area of southern China on Monday, with officials announcing later that no survivors had been found yet.
“Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but up until now, none of those aboard the plane with whom contact was lost have been found,” state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday morning, more than 18 hours after the crash.
On Monday, China Eastern Flight 5735 crashed near the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi region while flying from Kunming in the southwestern province of Yunnan to the industrial centre of Guangzhou along the east coast.
Aviation experts have pointed out that the Boeing 737 is one of the most-used planes — and also considered to be one of the safest models.
A Bloomberg report citing Airsafe.com statistics said that NG models had just 0.07 fatal crashes per million flights as of 2019, which means that it’s one of the safest planes on the planet.
Paul Hayes, director of air safety and insurance at Cirium, told Bloomberg: “The 737 NG has been in operation for 25 years and has an excellent safety record.”
“I’m not going to speculate on what happened but if the Flightfadar24 logs are accurate, something seems to have happened abruptly and the plane nosedived from cruising altitude.”
With saying that, the six-year-old single-aisle jet that preceded the 737 Max, has had a few crashes in its history, marring its almost perfect record.
Air India Express — 2020
The most recent crash of a 737-800 before Monday’s took place in August 2020 when an Air India Express flight slid off the runway in Kozhikode, India, killing 21 people. Air Indian Express Flight 1344 was a part of the Narendra Modi government’s Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the evening of 7 August 2020, the plane with 190 people on board crashed during a botched landing attempt at Kozhikode Calicut International Airport. Twenty people were killed in the Air India crash and more than 150 others sustained injuries.
According to officials, the plane skidded off the runway and broke into two pieces. This was considered the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in India in a decade. A year after the crash, investigators said that pilot error, poor communication, and work culture were all factors in the crash.
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — 2020
On 8 January 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, crashed shortly after taking off, killing all 176 passengers and crew members on board.
It came in the midst of escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
After claiming the plane had crashed owing to a technical failure, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later admitted they had unintentionally shot down the aeroplane because of mortal error.
Flydubai Flight 981 — 2016
A plane carrying 55 passengers from Dubai crashed in southern Russia in March 2016, killing all on board.
The Boeing BAN 737-800 from Dubai, operated by the Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai, came down at Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia after aborting a second landing attempt in high winds.
File image of the wreck of doomed Air India Express flight 812 in Mangalore. AFP
Air India Express Flight 812 — 2010
A Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operating Air India Express Flight 812 from Dubai to Mangalore crashed on landing at Mangalore on 22 May 2010.
The flight was coming from Dubai with 166 people, including six crew members. All crew members and 152 passengers were killed and only eight passengers survived.
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 — 2009
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951, which had taken off from Istanbul on 25 February 2009 crashed in a field near the Polderbaan while attempting to land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, killing nine people.
Kenya Airways Flight 507 — 2007
On 5 May 2007, a 737-800 carrying 108 passengers and six crew lost contact and crashed into a swamp on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya from Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire, after making a listed stop at Douala, Cameroon. There were no survivors.
With inputs from agencies
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