The Boeing 737-800 crashed near the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi region while flying from Kunming in the southwestern province of Yunnan to the industrial center of Guangzhou along the east coast.

China Eastern Flight 5735 was traveling at around 29,000 feet when it entered a steep and fast dive around 2:20 pm local time, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.com.

The plane plunged to 7,400 feet before briefly regaining about 1,200 feel in altitude, then dove again. The plane stopped transmitting data 96 seconds after starting to fall.

There were 123 passengers and 9 crew members on board the plane, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

An hour into the flight, and nearing the point at which it would begin descending into Guangzhou, the plane lost altitude drastically. reports said that all 737-800s in China Eastern's fleet were ordered grounded.

However, aviation experts said it is unusual to ground an entire fleet of planes unless there is evidence of a problem with the model.

China has more 737-800s than any other country and if identical planes at other Chinese airlines are grounded, it “could have a significant impact on domestic travel,” said aviation consultant IBA.

Boeing 737-800s have been flying since 1998, and Boeing has sold more than 5,100 of them so far.

(With UNI inputs)