Boeing 737 crash dents China's impeccable air safety record; last fatal jet accident in 2010

Henan Airline crash (File Pic)

A Boeing 737 plane with 133 passengers on board crashed in China's Guangxi province early afternoon on March 21. While the casualties are still unknown, eye witnesses suggest that the crash was so severe, hardly anyone could survive the incident. If that's the case, this will be one of the most tragic incidents reported by any Chinese airline.

According to Aviation Safety Network, China's air safety record has been among the best in the world over the past decade. China's last fatal jet accident was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people on board were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to the Yichun airport in low visibility.

In 1994, a China Northwest Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 flying from Xian to Guangzhou was destroyed in an accident after takeoff, killing all 160 people on board and ranking as China's worst-ever air disaster, according to Aviation Safety Network.

The 737-800 model that crashed on Monday has a good safety record and is the predecessor to the 737 MAX model that has been grounded in China for more than three years following fatal crashes in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia.

Aviation data provider OAG said this month that state-owned China Eastern Airlines was the world's sixth-largest by scheduled weekly seat capacity and the biggest in China. China has had a relatively strong domestic aviation market during the coronavirus pandemic despite tight curbs on international flights.

With inputs from Reuters