US report China Eastern jet fuel supply was off ahead of deadly 2022 crash

WASHINGTON/SHANGHAI, May 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released data this week indicating the fuel supply was switched off to both engines of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 jet before the aircraft plunged into a hillside in southern China in March 2022, killing all 132 people on board.

The NTSB said on Wednesday its probe of China's deadliest air disaster in three decades turned up no safety issues. Fuel switches on Boeing 737 aircraft are physical controls regulating fuel flow to the engines, and a pilot must pull the switch up before moving it from run to cutoff.

Its release is the first significant investigative update on the deadly crash.

In March, China's aviation regulator opted for the second year not to release an annual update on its investigation of the crash, letting the fourth anniversary pass without providing any insight into the cause.

The data, released by the NTSB in response to a Freedom of Information request, originated from the plane's flight data recorder. It showed fuel switches for both engines moved simultaneously from the run position to the cutoff position before the jet descended.

Reuters reported in 2022 that investigators were focused on the actions of the flight crew and had not found any evidence of technical malfunctions.

"It was found that while cruising at 29,000 feet, the fuel switches on both engines moved from the run position to the cutoff position. Engine speeds decreased after the fuel switch movement," the NTSB report said.

The crash of the Boeing 737-800, operated as China Eastern flight MU5735, was China's deadliest air disaster in decades.

Deliberate crashes are exceptionally rare. In March 2015, a Germanwings co-pilot deliberately flew an Airbus A320 into a French mountainside, killing all 150 on board.

The actions of the captain in the June crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India that killed 260 people have been under scrutiny.

A preliminary investigation report by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) showed the plane's fuel-engine switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff just after takeoff.

The cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots supported the view that Captain Sabharwal had cut the flow of fuel to the engines, a source briefed on U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence in July told Reuters.

Chinese regulators have not released a full report detailing the findings of their investigation into the crash and have given no update of the probe for more than two years.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and China Eastern Airlines did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the report and a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to answer a question about the U.S. findings at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

The flight data recorder is one of the two black boxes recovered from the wreckage. It was sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington for analysis because Boeing is an American aircraft manufacturer.

(Reporting by Casey Hall and David Shepardson; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Gregorio)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM.