Chinese aircraft was travelling at speed of sound just before it crashed into hill: Report
India Today
Just before it slammed into the hillside, the China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed on Monday was travelling nearly at the speed of sound, as per flight-tracking data.
A Chinese aircraft with 132 people on board crashed on Monday in the southern Guangxi province in China. The plane was travelling at a speed close to that of sound just before it crashed into a mountain, according to a Bloomberg report based on flight-tracking data.
The flight was travelling at more than 640 miles (966 kilometres) per hour and may even have exceeded 700 mph at some points just before the fatal crash, as per data from Flightradar24.
Sound, meanwhile, travels at 761 mph at sea level but slows with altitude as the air temperature falls. Hence, sound travels at about 663 mph at 35,000 feet altitude.
This data corresponds with videos that show the plane diving at a steep angle right before it hit the ground with immense force.
"The preliminary data indicate it was near the speed of sound. It was coming down steep,” said John Hansman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology astronautics and aeronautics professor.
The plane was flying to Guangzhou from Kunming at an altitude of about 29,000 feet at 595 mph before it began its sharp descent, the Bloomberg report said.
The last data transmission captured by Flightradar24 occurred at about 3,200 feet altitude. About 40 seconds before the last transmission, the plane briefly climbed before resuming its steep dive.
The announcement was made a day after North Korea convened the first session of its Supreme People's Assembly. The assembly, the isolated nation's rubber-stamp legislature, formally approves state policy.
Indian Railway staff's swift action turned a medical emergency involving a toddler into relief aboard a train from Bengaluru to Gujarat.
Leon Panetta said Iran war was not an unexpected risk. He pointed out that for years, US security officials have known Iran could disrupt global oil supplies by blocking the Strait of Hormuz. According to him, this was a well-known danger, but one that appears to have been overlooked in the current conflict.
Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by about 25% for the second time in a week as the Gulf conflict disrupts global oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has warned it is ready to respond. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that if Iran's infrastructure is targeted, then key facilities across the region could be "irreversibly destroyed."
Indian Railway staff's swift action turned a medical emergency involving a toddler into relief aboard a train from Bengaluru to Gujarat.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said ICE personnel would assist Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who have continued to work despite uncertainty over funding.
In the viral video, a bus driver named Harish is seen stopping his bus mid-route, not for a passenger, but for a group of hungry puppies waiting by the roadside.
An NRI's creative replica of the Statue of Liberty in Jalandhar sparks cultural interest and local pride.
In a city reshaped by war and displacement, survival in Beirut now rests on quiet acts of care. Each morning, strangers show up — not with answers, but with what little they can carry.
A pricing sheet inside an auto rickshaw has gone viral for being practical and running a good side hustle.
Kremlin said that Kyiv wants to keep the "questionable activities" of its citizens under wraps, after Ukraine issued a statement on the arrests of six Ukrainian citizens in India.