It was heartbreaking to learn about the crash of a jetliner carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members on Monday afternoon in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The plane operated by China Eastern Airlines was en route to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, from Kunming, Yunnan province.

Our thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. A lot of efforts are needed to comfort the victims' families and provide them with all necessary assistance. Meanwhile, the privacy of the victims and the families should be respected.

Like everyone, President Xi Jinping was shocked by the news. On hearing of the crash, he delivered immediate instructions for the organization of emergency rescue efforts — although it is now clear there are unlikely to be any survivors — and called for a full probe into the cause of the accident.

A team from the Chinese aviation regulator has been deployed to the crash site, alongside fire rescue and paramilitary forces, and Vice-Premier Liu He is overseeing the rescue efforts and crash investigation having traveled to Wuzhou in Guangxi on Monday night.

While there has been much speculation about what might have caused the crash, with some experts suggesting that it appeared the aircraft lost engine power at cruising altitude, resulting in the pilot losing control of the plane, nothing is known yet.

It is important for the safe flight of all airliners that the utmost efforts are made to recover the black box and cockpit voice recorder as quickly as possible and the investigation is conducted thoroughly to determine the factors that caused the plane to plummet as it did.

China Eastern Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737-800 passenger jets for the time being. Other airlines are continuing to fly the planes as usual. But it is important that they do a good job in checking all their aircraft as thoroughly as possible and see that any potential safety risks are dealt with before they take off.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China has already issued a notice, requiring that all airlines and airports strengthen their safety checks on maintenance work, and the training of pilots and other air crew to prepare them for different weather conditions.

It will take some time to determine what happened. But absolute safety should always be given top priority.

China's flight safety record has been among the best in the world in recent years, and although the nature of the crash is undoubtedly horrific, sensationalizing speculation is not going to help anyone, only discovering the true cause will ensure aviation safety.