Guangxi

The airplane departed Kunming-Wujiaba Airport at 1315LT on a schedule service (flight MU5735) to Guangzhou, carrying 123 passengers and a crew of nine. At 1420LT, while cruising at an altitude of 29,100 feet, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent until 7,400 feet then climbed to 8,600 feet. It finally entered a steep descent and crashed almost two minutes later in a vertical attitude on hilly and wooded terrain located some 20 km southwest of Wuzhou. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 132 occupants were killed. Two days after the accident, the CVR was found while the DFDR was found on March 27.

At a distance of 40 km from the airport, at an altitude of 7,800 feet, the crew was cleared to make a visual approach and to descent to 7,000 feet. Three minutes later, the aircraft went out of control and crashed on a mountain slope (1'600 metres high) located 27 km south from runway 36. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 141 occupants were killed. It was reported that the captain attempted to level off the plane by raising its nose. The autothrottle responded by advancing the throttles. The n°2 power lever however remained at idle. The crew apparently did not notice this. With the right engine at idle, the autothrottle further advanced the left engine power lever in order to obtain the correct airspeed. The asymmetrical power condition was not corrected and the airplane rolled to the right and crashed.

Following a wrong approach configuration at Guilin Airport, the three engine aircraft landed too far down the runway. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, lost its right main gear and came to rest in a grassy area. All 107 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Weather conditions were poor at the time of the accident with rain showers and limited visibility. Thus, the runway surface was wet and the braking action was limited.

While taxiing at Guilin Airport, the airplane was hit by a Chinese Air Force Harbin H-5 bomber that apparently crashed upon landing. The Trident broke into several pieces and caught fire. Eleven passengers, all foreign citizens, were killed, while 27 other people were injured and 68 escaped uninjured.

While descending to Guilin Airport on a flight from Guangzhou-Baiyun Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls. In limited visibility, the three engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Yangsu located about 40 km from Guilin. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 112 occupants were killed.

Shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in a field. A pilot survived while both other occupants were killed.

The aircraft left Xi'an (Hsian) Airport at 1500LT bound for Kunming with 35 passengers and a crew of four. While cruising at an altitude of 23,000 feet over the cloud layer, the left engine caught fire. The captain ordered the radio operator and the flight engineer to bail out. Shortly later, the aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed 123 km west of Hechi, killing all 37 occupants. Both crew that bailed out survived. The pilot, Major Carrol D. Gregory, and the copilot 2nd Lt Ralph R. Young were killed.

En route to Chongqing, the captain was informed that the destination airport was closed to traffic due to poor weather conditions. He decided to divert to Guilin Airport but this one was closed as well as all others in the region. The crew flew over the mountainous region for several hours to burn fuel. Eventually, when the fuel reserve was low, the captain decided to attempt an emergency landing on a mountain slope. He placed the aircraft in a slightly nose up position and hit the mountain at a speed of 80 knots. The aircraft slid for several yards before coming to rest. A passenger, a US Marine Officer, was killed, while all 13 other occupants were unhurt.

En route, an unknown situation forced all ten crew to abandon the aircraft and bail out. The aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field. All ten occupants were uninjured.

For unknown reason, the crew overflew Kunming Airport and continued his route to the southeast. Dozen minutes later, due to fuel exhaustion, the captain ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft and all four crew members bailed out. The aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a prairie. All four occupants were uninjured.