Free Archive | Eastern Airlines MU5735 – The Truth of the Air Disaster “Sealed” by National Security

Foreword: The Truth of Being “Frozen”

In the history of civil aviation, time is usually an ally of the truth. As the wreckage is pieced together and the data from the black boxes is decoded, the truth often surfaces. However, the air disaster of Eastern Airlines MU5735 on March 21, 2022, has gradually evolved into a huge “information black hole” in the long river of time.

In mid-2025, when the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) refused to disclose the final investigation report on the grounds of “national security,” the nature of this tragedy had already shifted from a technical disaster to a complex sociopolitical event.

Chapter 1: The “Betrayal” of Physical Data

On the afternoon of March 21, 2022, the villagers of Mozu Village, Wuzhou witnessed an extremely rare scene in physics: a Boeing 737-800 plunged into the forest at a nearly vertical angle.

1. The Game of Autopilot and Human Intervention

According to the preliminary assessment released by the international investigation team (including the NTSB and Boeing technicians), MU5735 showed a high degree of “controlled tendency” before the crash.

The sudden change in cruising altitude: The plane suddenly began to dive while flying smoothly at an altitude of 29,100 feet. Professional pilots pointed out that if the flight control system did not encounter extreme failures (such as horizontal stabilizer failure), the plane would never have shown such a perfect “vertical trajectory.”
The silent confession of the black box: Data extracted from the Washington laboratory showed that the elevators had received violent downward commands. This means that in the last moments of life, someone in the cockpit was trying their best to make the plane accelerate and crash into the ground.

2. The “Disappearance” of the Fifth Seat Communication

Within 120 seconds of the crash, the Guangzhou air traffic control had repeatedly called “Eastern 5735” via radio, but there was only a desperate silence in the channel. This “radio silence” is strikingly consistent with the characteristics shown in the 2015 Germanwings 9525 air crash (the pilot Lubitz’s suicide case): refusing to communicate, refusing to rescue, refusing to survive.

Chapter 2: The “Long March” and Silence of the Investigation Report

According to the “International Civil Aviation Convention” (Annex 13), an interim report should be issued within one year after the air crash, until the final report is released. But the report trajectory of MU5735 presents a strange “decreasing effect.”

1. The Strategic Contraction of Official Discourse

2022-2023: The official emphasized that “due to the violent impact, the wreckage is difficult to identify,” which is technically acceptable.
2024: The two-year anniversary report almost completely concealed the technical details and no longer mentioned the progress of black box data repair.
2025: When the families and lawyers tried to apply for access to the investigation report through the “Government Information Disclosure Regulations,” the reply they received was: “The information involves state secrets, and its disclosure may endanger national security or social stability.”

2. The Rift in Sino-US Civil Aviation Cooperation

MU5735 occurred against the complex background of Sino-US relations. The US (NTSB), as the representative of the instrument manufacturer, has the right to interpret the original data. However, according to insiders, the Sino-US investigation team has a huge divergence on the “accident definition”: the US tends to release the conclusion of intentional impact caused by “human factors”; while China insists that more time is needed to verify whether there are extremely rare systemic mechanical failures.

Chapter 3: Families—Grievers and Rights Defenders Who Are Isolated

In the in-depth investigation, we contacted many families who did not want to be named. Their pain has been carefully wrapped up by an efficient and cold “stability maintenance mechanism” in the past four years.

1. “One-on-one” Care and Monitoring

After the air crash, each family was equipped with a “working group” composed of government personnel, psychological counselors, and Eastern Airlines employees.

Soft isolation: Although this model solves the initial life needs, it also cuts off the horizontal connection between the families. A family member told reporters: “We don’t even know what the other 131 families are thinking because we are asked not to contact each other without authorization.”
Network silencing: During the Qingming Festival or the anniversary, the memorial videos released by the families on social media are often restricted in traffic or directly deleted because they “contain sensitive content.”

2. The Dead End of Legal Compensation

The difficulty of domestic litigation: In the absence of an official “definitive report,” the court often does not file a case. If it is defined as “mechanical failure,” the compensation amount is limited by the limit standard of China’s civil aviation; if it is defined as “intentional,” the families can apply for punitive damages, but this will directly impact the brand of Eastern Airlines and even the safety reputation of China’s civil aviation.
The frustration of filing a lawsuit in the United States: Some families have tried to file a lawsuit in Chicago, USA (the location of Boeing’s headquarters). But Boeing used the “Forum Non Conveniens” principle to apply to transfer the case back to China, on the grounds that the accident occurred and the main evidence is in China.

3. The “Unlimited Compensation” Game under the “Montreal Convention”

In the field of civil aviation claims, the “Montreal Convention” (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”) is the core weapon for families to defend their rights. China and the United States are both signatories, but the “accident definition” directly determines the magnitude of the compensation.

1. The “Ceiling” and “Breakthrough” of the Compensation Limit

First-tier compensation (strict liability): Regardless of whether the airline is at fault, as long as there are casualties, the families can receive compensation of about 128,000 special drawing rights (about 1.2-1.5 million yuan).
Second-tier compensation (unlimited liability): If the families can prove that the air crash was caused by the airline’s negligence, negligence, or intentional misconduct, the compensation is unlimited.

2. The Legal Dead End of “Intentional”

If MU5735 is finally defined as “pilot suicide,” the legal definition will undergo a qualitative change:

A devastating blow to Eastern Airlines: Intentional crashing of the plane is the highest level of “management dereliction of duty.” The families have the right to file punitive damages in US or Chinese courts, which may amount to tens of millions of US dollars/person. This is also why the official investigation report is extremely cautious on “human factors”—once admitted, Eastern Airlines will face the pressure of bankruptcy-level legal compensation.
The reversal of the burden of proof: Under the Convention, if the airline wants to be exempt from the second-tier unlimited compensation, it must prove that it is “completely without fault.” But in the pilot psychological screening and cockpit supervision (such as the dual-person duty system), Eastern Airlines is currently unable to prove its innocence.

Chapter 4: The “Truth Seal” in the Sociological Perspective

Why can’t MU5735 be publicly defined like the Dalian 5·7 air crash (Zhang Peilin arson case)?

The myth of civil aviation safety: China’s civil aviation has maintained a safety flight record of more than 100 million hours. Admitting pilot suicide will have a devastating impact on the performance and public confidence of the entire industry.
The loopholes in crew management: In-depth investigations show that civil aviation practitioners generally face sharp declines in income, high-intensity isolation, and psychological pressure during the epidemic. If it is confirmed that it is social revenge caused by psychological breakdown, it will trigger in-depth accountability for the epidemic prevention policies and civil aviation management system at that time.

Epilogue: In Memory of No More Falling

As investigative reporters, we record not only cold data, but also the process of 132 broken families groping for the truth in the dark.

Currently, the truth is locked in the wreckage of the mountain forest in Wuzhou, Guangxi, and the confidential hard drive in Washington. Without a transparent investigation report, the closed loop of aviation safety will never be completed.