The Boeing 737 that crashed in China started a rapid descent from 29,000 feet and hit the ground minutes later, flight data says

There were 132 people on the China Eastern Airlines flight that crashed on Monday.

A sense of what may have happened is given by the data from FlightRadar 24.

It showed that the plane descended from 29,000 feet to 3,225 feet in less than a minute.

The data showed that the plane was travelling at an average speed of 523 miles per hour.

The plane was travelling at 29,000 feet. Its last recorded data point was at 2.22 p.m., when it had shed almost its entire cruising height and was at 3,225 ft. Its speed had dropped to 432 miles per hour.

It's not clear how long it took between the data point and the moment of impact.

There is no indication of why the plane started descending, its angle of descent, or any action that may have been taken to avoid the crash.

The plane left Kunming Changshui International Airport at 1:11 p.m. and was due to land in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 3:10 p.m.

The plane crashed halfway through its journey. The plane was last heard from at .

As of Monday afternoon, no information had been released about the deaths.

Insider has full coverage of the crash.