Assistance prepared for investigation

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.