China Eastern jet crash that killed 132 may have been intentional, report

U.S. officials are assisting Chinese authorities in their assessment of the crash
Rescuers work at the site of a plane crash on March 23, 2022 in Tengxian County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China

United States officials believe that the China Eastern jet crash that killed 132 people in March may have been intentional, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Sources told the news outlet that data indicate a strong possibility that someone in the cockpit sent the plane into an intentional nosedive. 

The Boeing 737-800 jet crashed during a flight from Kunming, China, to Guangzhou. Reports at the time indicated that that the jet appeared to launch in a nearly vertical descent. The plane prior to the crash had an impeccable commercial safety record.

Accident investigators from the U.S.'s National Transportation Safety Board are helping Chinese authorities with their analysis of the crash, which occurred in a U.S.-manufactured jet. 

Sources told the newspaper that according to data from recovered instruments commands given to the black box just before the nosedive appear to suggest that the crash was intentional.  

"Tthe plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit," one source said

Chinese officials were reportedly unable to connect with the plane's pilots over cockpit microphones during the descent of the jet.