Overview
- New U.S. records released through a FOIA show both engine fuel switches were set to cutoff at cruise, a manual action that shut the engines down almost at the same time.
- The autopilot disconnected at the same moment and manual control inputs then sent the Boeing 737-800 into a steep, rolling dive.
- The flight data recorder was heavily damaged with gaps in the data, and the cockpit voice audio was recovered and sent to China without copies kept by the NTSB.
- Investigators documented three pilots in the cockpit with recorded flight-hour totals, yet the available records do not show who moved the switches.
- China’s aviation regulator has not published a final report and has cited national security and social stability, which leaves families without answers and limits the safety lessons usually shared under global rules.