Aviation experts have shared their theories as to what caused Flight MU5375 to suddenly plummet more than 30,000 feet into mountains in China.
More than 130 people are feared dead after the Chinese Eastern Airlines flight crashed an hour into its domestic flight in the mountains near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county on Monday morning.
An “all out rescue effort” has been ordered by President Xi Jinping in the aftermath of the disaster, despite local firefighters warning it does not expect any survivors.
Nearly 1,000 people have joined search parties combing the countryside.
Several experts have made suggestions at what brought the Boeing 747-800 out of the skies.
Arthur Rowe, a specialist fellow in gas turbine performance and operability centre for propulsion engineering at Cranfield University, told MailOnline : “It looks most likely a loss of control event, possibly following a high altitude stall of the aircraft.
“As usual there are multiple possible causes. Jammed or unresponsive control surfaces, especially on the tail are one.
“It's unlikely to be engine related as aircraft can fly perfectly well with no engine power - for a limited time obviously.”
Professor Bharath Ganapathisubramani, from Southampton University's engineering and physical sciences department added he believes it is “too early” to say what happened.
Last year manufacturer Boeing revealed 13 per cent of fatal commercial accidents globally between 2011 and 2020 occurred during the cruise phase, whereas 28 per cent occurred on final approach and 26 per cent on landing.
Li Xiaojin, a Chinese aviation expert, added: “Usually the plane is on auto-pilot during cruise stage. So it is very hard to fathom what happened."
Workers are currently attempting to find the plane’s black box among the wreckage to find clues as to what caused the flight to crash.
Chinese investigators have been ordered to discover what happened as soon as possible, although it may take several months to decipher what happened in the plane’s final moments.
Online weather data showed partly cloudy conditions with good visibility in Wuzhou at the time of the crash.
The Boeing 737-800 is part of the 737 family, the world's most-flown commercial aircraft series. It was developed in the 1960s to serve short- or medium-length routes.
The last fatal 737-800 crash occurred in August 2020 when an Air India Express plane overshot the table-top runway and crashed while landing at Calicut International Airport in the southern state of Kerala in heavy rain, killing 21.
A government report cited pilot error as the probable cause.
A Boeing spokesperson said: "We are aware of the initial media reports and are working to gather more information.”
