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US report: Fuel supply cut off in China Eastern crash 2022

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released data last week that showed the fuel supply was cut off to both engines of a China Eastern Airlines jet?before it crashed into a hillside in southern?China, in March 2022. All 132 passengers on board were killed.

The data was released by NTSB as a response to a Freedom of Information request. It came from the flight data recorder.

The fuel switches on both engines were found to have been moved from their run position into the cutoff position while the aircraft was cruising at 29000 feet. The NTSB reported that engine speeds dropped after the fuel switch was moved.

Fuel switches are physical controls that regulate fuel flow into the engines. A pilot must lift the switch before changing it from run mode to cutoff.

The Boeing 737-800 crash, which was operated as China Eastern Flight MU5735 in China, was the deadliest air disaster China has seen in decades.

Chinese regulators have not published a report detailing their findings and they haven't given an update on their investigation in more than two year.

At a Wednesday press conference, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) as well as China Eastern Airlines declined to comment on the U.S. report.

One of the black boxes recovered from the wreckage is the?flight recorder. The NTSB lab in Washington was contacted to analyze the data because Boeing is an American manufacturer. (Reporting and editing by Raju Gopikrishnan; Case Hall is the reporter)

(source: Reuters)