A China Eastern airliner that crashed on the 21st with 132 passengers and crew on board appears to have fallen at a speed of 1,000 km/h, similar to the speed of sound, Bloomberg News estimates.
Based on data from the flight route tracking site 'Flight Radar 24', Bloomberg analyzed that the plane crashed at a speed of more than 966 km/h, and that it may have exceeded the speed of 1,126 km/h in an instant.
The speed of sound depends on the surrounding environment, such as temperature. At sea level, the speed is 1,224 km/h, but at 10,000 m, it is about 1,66 km.
Bloomberg said these figures are also consistent with analysis of video footage of the crash.
Bloomberg said their estimates are conservative and the actual speed may have been higher, but the exact flight speed needs to be revealed through black box collection.
The plane crashed in a mountainous area near Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on its way from Kunming, Yunnan Province to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.
The plane was flying at an altitude of 8,900 m at 957 km/h before the crash started.
Chinese authorities found a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) that was part of a black box at the accident site yesterday (23rd) and started analyzing it.
The exterior of the voice recorder is seriously damaged, and the internal memory device is also partially damaged, so it is expected to take some time to analyze.