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.
