Second ‘Black Box' Found in China Eastern Plane Crash
Searchers had been looking for the flight data recorder after finding the cockpit voice recorder four days ago
By Ken Moritsugu •
The second “black box” has been recovered from the crash of a China Eastern Boeing 737-800 that killed all 132 people on board last week, Chinese state media said Sunday.
Firefighters taking part in the search found the recorder, an orange cylinder, on a mountain slope about 1.5 meters (5 feet) underground, state broadcaster CCTV said. Experts confirmed it was the second black box. The impact of the crash scattered debris widely and created a 20-meter- (65-foot-) deep pit in the side of the mountain.
Searchers had been looking for the flight data recorder after finding the cockpit voice recorder four days ago. The two recorders should help investigators determine what caused the plane to plummet from 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) and into a forested mountainside in southern China.
The search for the black boxes and wreckage from the plane has been complicated by the remote setting and rainy and muddy conditions. Video posted by CGTN, the international arm of CCTV, showed an official holding the orange can-like object on site with the words “RECORDER” and “DO NOT OPEN” written on it. It appeared slightly dented but intact.
Flight MU5735 crashed Monday en route from the city of Kunming in southeastern China to Guangzhou, a major city and export manufacturing hub near Hong Kong. An air traffic controller tried to contact the pilots several times after seeing the plane’s altitude drop sharply but got no reply, officials have said.
The cockpit voice recorder, also an orange cylinder, was found two days later on Wednesday. It has been sent to Beijing for examination and analysis.
Hundreds of searchers have been combing the site outside the city of Wuzhou for days with shovels and other hand tools. Construction excavators have been brought in to remove earth and clear passageways to the site, and pumps are being used to drain collected water from the rain.
Officials announced late Saturday that there were no survivors among the 123 passengers and nine crew members. DNA analysis has confirmed the identities of 120 of the people on board, they said. Searchers have found ID and bank cards belonging to the victims.
China Eastern, one of China’s four major airlines, and its subsidiaries have grounded all of their Boeing 737-800s, a total of 223 aircraft. The carrier said the grounding was a precaution, not a sign of any problem with the planes.
The Boeing Co. said in a statement that a Boeing technical team is supporting the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which will lead the investigation into the crash.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
China Eastern plane crash: All 132 people on board confirmed dead
The Chinese airliner, flying between the cities of Kunming and Guangzhou, nosedived into a mountainside earlier this week. The crash is China's deadliest in almost 30 years.
The cause of the crash still remains a mystery
The 132 passengers and crew on China Eastern flight MU5735 died in Monday's plane crash, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) confirmed on Saturday.
Hu Zhenjiang, deputy director of the CAAC, told reporters that there had been no signs of life at the crash site in a heavily forested part of the Guangxi region, near the city of Wuzhou.
"The identity of 120 victims has been determined by DNA identification," he said. The families of the victims have been waiting for days to hear the news as rescue teams looked for survivors.
State media said the 123 passengers and nine crew members had all died in the crash.
What caused the crash of flight MU5735?
The crash, the deadliest in China for almost 30 years, left authorities puzzled over the cause.
The search for clues has been hampered by the rugged terrain and mud at the crash site. Search teams employed machinery and their hands to dig out parts of the plane.
Authorities said they had not found any evidence of conventional explosives at the scene.
Aviation officials said they had found one of the two black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder, which is expected to offer up some details behind the incident. It has been sent to Beijing for examination.
Officials also believe they will be able to track down the other black box, the flight data recorder, after finding the signal from the emergency location transmitter that had been installed close to it, Zhu Tao, director of the Aviation Safety Office at the CAAC said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash and the country's aviation authorities said they would carry out a full check-up of its vast passenger fleet.
Boeing, the maker of the 737-800 plane model which crashed, extended its deepest condolences to the victims and their families.
ab/wd (Reuters, AFP)
MARCH 25, 2022
Search and rescue workers found a handwritten note found in the wreckage of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 they believe was written by a passenger.
Handout
A photograph of a handwritten note from a passenger on China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735, which crashed in southern China on Monday (March 21) with 132 people on board, caused an emotional stir in China this week.
The note describes a jade disc, a good-luck pendant that symbolises “peace, luck and safety” in traditional Chinese culture. The note was believed to be written by a female passenger with the surname Xiang, who was in her 20s, according to Thepaper.cn.More from AsiaOneRead the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite.
“The jade disc lucky charm symbolises hope for peace in the year, and a long and healthy life,” she wrote.
Xiang was a live-streaming salesperson and was flying to Guangzhou to host an online sales event for jade products.
The note may have been used for studying because, according to jewellery salespeople, the wording is commonly used to sell jade on television and live streams.
Flight MU5735, a Boeing 737-800, crashed into a forested slope in Guangxi autonomous region on Monday. Flight data suggested the pilots fought to keep the plane airborne because it briefly gained altitude after a 22,000-foot nosedive before dropping again. It crashed 30 seconds later.
A search and rescue operation has been under way since Monday, but no survivors have been found.
One of Xiang’s friends, surnamed Zhao, told Thepaper that they had realised Xiang might have been on the plane when they heard about the crash.
“We calculated the time of the flight and determined that was the route she took. We started to call her, but she did not pick up,” said Zhao.
According to Zhao, the local police department called Xiang’s parents and informed them that she was a passenger on the plane.
Since the accident, Xiang’s parents have struggled to accept the possibility that their daughter may have died in the crash, and they have been posting messages in the comment section of Xiang’s Douyin account, pleading for their daughter to return.
Read Also China Eastern flight MU5735: Suspected debris found 10km from crash site, search area widened
“They discovered the black box, so my daughter should be found soon. We miss you so so much, our daughter; please return home as quickly as possible,” her parents wrote.
At 1am on the day of the accident, Xiang posted a video on Douyin of herself, smiling, with the English words “love you” written across her face, an online trend in China.
Her videos, which typically featured selfies and encouraging words, were often posted in the early morning after she finished her midnight live-streaming sales sessions.
“She was a very motivated person with a nice personality,” Zhao said.
Xiang’s most recent WeChat Moments post is a brief video she filmed on her way to Changshui airport in Kunming to catch the MU5735 flight.
“What kind of goals are worth pursuing and worth always being on the go?” she wrote, finishing her post with three sun emojis.
This article was first published in South China Morning Post.
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