China Eastern Airlines flight crash on March 21 is likely intentional, flight data indicates. According to a Wall Street Journal report, someone in the cockpit deliberately sent the plane into a nosedive killing all 132 people on board.

The report, which cited people familiar with U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident, said that data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive. The Boeing 737-800 was cruising at high altitude when it suddenly pitched into a near-vertical descent, plummeting into a mountain.

Also Read | Nearly month after crash, China resumes commercial use of Boeing 737-800

“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” said a person who is familiar with American officials’ preliminary assessment.

The source also reportedly said that none of the Chinese authorities, who are leading the investigation, have so far flagged any mechanical or flight-control problems with the plane.

The plane was cruising at 29,000 feet when it suddenly nose-dived. Air traffic control attempted to contact the pilots several times after noticing the plane’s drop in altitude, but received no answer.

The information gathered so far in the China Eastern probe has led US officials involved with the investigation to focus on the pilots. There is also a possibility that someone else on the plane could have broken into the cockpit and deliberately caused the crash, people close to the situation said.

Also Read | China Eastern plane’s black box sent to US for decoding, could unravel crash mystery

China Eastern, in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, said no evidence has emerged that could determine whether or not there were any problems with the aircraft involved in the accident. 

Asked about a possible cockpit intrusion, China Eastern said such a scenario wasn’t plausible. 

More than 49,000 pieces of aircraft wreckage were found from the site. The wreckage was being cleaned up and was sent for analysis.

Flight MU5735 crashed en route from the city of Kunming in southeastern China to Guangzhou, a major city and export manufacturing hub near Hong Kong.