China Eastern Airlines Plane Crash: Boeing 737-800 carrying 132 people tragically nosedives into mountain in Southern China

China Plane Crash (Photo: Twitter)

A China Eastern Boeing 737 crashed on March 21 in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Flight MU 5735 had 132 people onboard, including 123 passengers and nine crew members. 

The plane took off from Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan Province at 1:15 pm, and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province at 3:07 pm. 

 Flight records indicate the six-year-old plane made a near vertical nose dive before impact, according to the Associated Press.

Smoke from the plane wreckage could be seen billowing above the mountainous region of southen China. 

More than 650 fire rescuers were being mobilized. Firefighters have found pieces of the plane after arriving at the rescue site.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an "all out effort" to rescue any possible survivors.

 The number of casualties and the cause of the accident are not clear yet. 

 An investigation into the exact cause of the crash is underway.

This is the first air crash in China since a fatal incident took place in Yichun, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province back in 2010. The Yichun crash killed 44 people. 

According to reports, China Eastern Airlines has decided to ground all of the company's Boeing737-800 planes.