What we know about the crash of China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was making a short trip between two cities in southern China on Monday, cruising at an altitude of more than 29,000 feet, when it began a violent plunge toward the earth. Residents in the area described hearing a boom, apparently from the plane crashing into a hillside, and then seeing smoke from the fires it had ignited. More than 24 hours later, emergency crews had found no survivors among the 132 people who were on board, officials said. The chances of finding anyone alive appeared slim. “It was in fragments scattered all around,” Li Chenbin, a technician in the area said. “I didn’t see anyone who lived through it.” But workers continued to comb the hilly, rural area, also looking for the Boeing 737-800 jet’s flight recorders. Many questions remain about what led up to the crash of Flight MU5735. Story looks at what we know so far, eg: The plane plummeted more than 20,000 feet in about a minute. Flight MU5735 took off shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday and the first hour of its journey proceeded as normal, Zhu Tao, the director of aviation safety at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said late Tuesday. The plane was cruising at about 29,000 feet around 2:17 p.m., but a few minutes later air traffic controllers noticed the aircraft had suddenly lost altitude. The plane lost more than 20,000 feet in just over a minute, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform. Air traffic controllers immediately called the plane crew, Mr. Zhu said, but did not receive a reply after several attempts. By 2:23 p.m., the plane’s radar signal disappeared, he said, and it had crashed. Zhu acknowledged that officials had uncovered little information so far.<br/>