Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, March 21 (TMTPOST) — A Boeing 737-800 plane of China Eastern Airlines carrying 132 people went down in South China’s Guangxi province. 

A 117-person rescue team has been dispatched by the local Fire and Rescue Department to search the area and provide help. The local Fire and Rescue Department is also sending another 650 rescue professionals to the crash site.

No casualty has been reported yet.

The plane went down from the sky at the speed of 845km/h at 2:19 PM, according to records on Flightradar24, a flight tracker that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in an announcement that the plane lost airborne contact over Wuzhou.

The plane, on its way from Kunming, the captal city of southwestern China's Yunan province to Guangzhou,the capital city of southern China's Guangdong province, lost contact and crashed in Wuzhou city in Guangxi province. The plane crashed in a mountainous area in Wuzhou, which creates difficulties for the rescue team to enter and search the area.

Locals in Wuzhou reported that they saw debris and fire and heard a loud noise around the time of the crash.

The plane that went down in Guangxi province is a Boeing 737-800 and has been operating for 6.8 years. The plane can theoretically shuttle 189 passengers.

China Eastern Airlines has announced that it will suspend the operation of all Boeing 737-800 planes starting from Tuesday.

“It is still uncertain whether the crash was caused by the plane itself. But the company has decided to suspend the operation of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft for safety concerns,” China Eastern Airline announced.

China had enjoyed an incredible air safety record in recent years. The last airplane crash recorded in the country took place in Heilongjiang province in 2010, killing 44 and injuring 52.

The crash in Guangxi province has caused China Eastern Airlines and Boeing’s stock price to plummet on the stock market. Boeing’s share price has gone down by 3.75% while China Eastern Airlines’ stock price has slumped by 6.46% upon the writing of this report.