US investigators have found that fuel switches on both engines of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 were manually moved to cutoff during its final moments before crashing in Guangxi in March 2022, killing all 132 people on board, according to data released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Boeing 737-800 plunged 29,000 feet before impact in China's deadliest aviation disaster in decades.

Flight data recorder information, analyzed at the NTSB lab in Washington DC, showed the fuel switches were lifted and moved from run to cutoff while the plane was cruising. Aviation safety expert David Soucie said the action required deliberate physical effort and that the lack of engine restart attempts suggests the shutdown was intentional. The recorders stopped capturing data at 26,000 feet when generators failed, though the cockpit voice recorder retained partial battery-powered audio.

The NTSB provided four voice recordings from the damaged cockpit voice recorder to Chinese authorities but did not retain copies. Chinese investigators have not publicly addressed the cause of the nosedive. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has yet to release a final report, and the court or investigative body is expected to resume formal proceedings based on the new technical findings.