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Departure of a China Eastern machine in the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou
Photo: Ng Han Guan / picture alliance/dpa/AP
A few weeks after a passenger plane crashed, China Eastern Airlines has restarted its Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
According to the flight website FlightRadar24, a machine of this model took off from the southern Chinese city of Kunming in the direction of Chengdu on Sunday.
After the accident that killed 132, the Chinese airline's 223 Boeing planes were grounded for security checks.
The plane, flight number MU5735, was on a flight between the cities of Kunming and Guangzhou in late March when it crashed in a forested mountainous area with 132 people on board.
The plane lost more than 6,000 meters in altitude in a minute before disappearing from radar.
Eventually, it crashed in a mountainous area and the impact started a fire.
China Eastern, one of China's four major airlines, said it would ground a total of 223 Boeing 737-800s while investigating possible safety risks.
The ban now seems overturned, but the cause of the accident is still unclear.
Two flight data recorders, which are currently being evaluated, should provide information.
So far, no evidence of explosives has been found.
The civil aviation authority (CAAC) had announced that the weather along the flight route did not pose any danger either.
Airplane crashes are rare in China.
The safety precautions are strict.
Most recently, in August 2010, a Henan Airlines plane crashed in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
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