On-lookers watch a China Eastern airliner taking off from the Beijing International airport on May 11, 2005. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
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A local security camera has captured the terrifying last moment as a Chinese passenger plane dived almost vertically into a mountainous area of southern China.
The Boeing 737-800 operated by China Eastern Airlines crashed on Monday with 132 people on board.
It was the worst air crash in China in over a decade.
Data from the flight tracker showed the domestic flight dropped over 25,000 feet in less than three minutes before hitting mountains in Guangxi Province.
CCTV footage surfaced on social media shows the jet, seemingly lost control, nosediving towards the ground.
Chinese media The Paper later confirmed that a security video camera from a local mining company captured the vertical drop from about 0.6 miles away.
Upon crashing the aircraft burst into flames.
The aircraft’s fatal dive came as it was cruising.
Boeing last year said 13 percent of fatal commercial accidents globally between 2011 and 2020 occurred during the cruise phase, whereas 3 percent occurred on the descent, none on the initial approach, 28 percent on the final approach, and 26 percent on landing.
A local villager told The Epoch Time that the crash site was sealed with entry denied to outsiders.
Emergency responders found burnt remains of identity cards, purses, and wallets at the crash site during the past 24 hours, state media reported. But details, including a confirmation of the number of dead, a passenger list, and a possible cause, have yet to be released.
The airline has since changed its website color to black and white in respect of the crash victims.
No foreign nationals were on board, according to the airline.
The company has asked for all Boeing 737-800s in the country to be grounded, state-run television CCTV reported. Chinese online flight booking system Ctrip shows the company halted relevant ticket sales until April 1.
Passenger planes of the 737NG series account for one-third of the total number of civil aircraft across China’s mainland.
A U.N. spokesman and world leaders have expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
Reuters contributed to this report.