A plane that plunged into a frozen lake in Inner Mongolia yesterday morning, killing 54 people, swayed as if it was performing aerial acrobatics moments before crashing, witnesses said.
The China Eastern Airline commuter plane crashed less than a minute after takeoff in Baotou, killing all on board.
Local resident Wang Yongqiang said the plane had been on fire before it plummeted from the sky and crashed into Nanhai Park, killing a person working in the ticket booth, then plunging into the park's frozen lake.
'I saw black smoke trailing the plane. Then it swayed and crashed,' Xinhua quoted Mr Wang as saying.
Another man who was doing his morning exercises in the park also saw the plane swaying. 'I thought it must have been part of an aerobatics performance - until it crashed,' he said.
Other witnesses cited by China News Service and Xinhuanet said the Shanghai-bound Bombardier CRJ200 exploded after climbing less than 100 metres into the air, creating a huge fireball.
