E-Paper
China plane crash: Human remains, engine debris found
Emergency workers are still looking for the second black box, braving continuous rain amid mud and muck and fear of landslides at the crash sit in the Guangxi region of south China.
Search teams have found human remains and engine debris of the China Eastern Airlines passenger plane that crashed into a hillside with 132 people on board on Monday as experts in Beijing examine the first black box, the cockpit voice recorder, recovered on Wednesday.
Emergency workers on Thursday were still looking for the second black box, braving continuous rain amid mud and muck and fear of landslides at the crash sit in the Guangxi region of south China.
The Boeing 737-800 flight (MU5735) from Kunming in southwest China to southern China’s Guangzhou city crashed on Monday afternoon in the Guangxi region,
The cockpit voice recorder was found on Wednesday and was in relatively good condition based on an early assessment, a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) official told reporters.
“The exterior of the black box has been severely damaged, but its data storage unit is relatively complete despite some damage,” Zhu Tao, head of CAAC’s aviation safety office told Chinese state media.
The recording material has been sent to Beijing for analysis, the official said.
Recovering the recorder’s content will be crucial in determining the causes behind the accident, China’s worst aviation incident in 12 years.
The recorder would provide investigators with details of exchanges between the flight’s three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Rescuers have been braving the rain to clear landslide debris and waterlogging while continuing the search and rescue work at the site.
“We are continuing to search for survivors at our best. Our search area has been expanded nearly fivefold and we are searching the site thoroughly,” Huang Shangwu, a rescuer with the regional fire and rescue corps told the official news agency, Xinhua.
“By 11am local time on Thursday, rescuers had cleared landslide debris, but the rain-soaked soil continued to make travel on foot difficult. They have laid bamboo frames on the ground to facilitate the rescue work,” the Xinhua report said.
The US’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is likely to play a role in the investigation as the aircraft was manufactured there.
The NTSB, however, has yet to decide whether officials will travel to China to take part in the investigation because of visa and Covid-19 quarantine requirements in the country scrambling to control its worst country-wide coronavirus wave since 2020.
“We are working with the Department of State to address those issues with the Chinese government before any travel will be determined,” the NTSB said in a statement.
China Eastern Airlines and its subsidiaries, meanwhile, have temporarily grounded 223 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, it was announced on Thursday.
“All grounded aircraft are undergoing checks and maintenance according to the highest safety standard to ensure that they meet the airworthiness requirements,” Liu Xiaodong, head of the airline’s publicity department, was quoted as saying at a press briefing by state media.
All other passenger planes of China Eastern Airlines, currently in operation, meet the airworthiness requirements for Chinese aviation authorities, Liu said.
