Rescue workers walk at the site where a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed in Wuzhou, China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
BEIJING, March 27 – Salvage teams on Sunday found the second black box — the flight data recorder — from the wreckage of a China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) Boeing 737-800 jet that crashed into a mountainside in southern China.
Flight MU5735, with 132 people on board, was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to the coast of Guangzhou on Monday when it descended from cruising altitude around the time it should have begun its approach.
There had been little hope of finding survivors. In a late-night news conference on Saturday, officials announced that all people on board, including nine crew members, were confirmed dead. Continue reading
The other black box – the cockpit voice recorder – was found on Wednesday and sent to Beijing for experts to examine.
The second black box was dug out of a slope at the crash site around 9:20 a.m. local time (0120 GMT) in muddy conditions after rain in recent days, state media reported.
According to state media, the device was recovered 40 meters from the point of impact and 1.5 meters (5 feet) below the surface.
According to state media, the black box was sent to Beijing for verification.
The crash was the deadliest air disaster in mainland China since 1994, when a China Northwest Airlines plane from Xian to Guangzhou crashed, killing all 160 people on board. Continue reading
RUMORS
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane briefly appeared to break free from its nosedive before continuing its descent to earth.
Data from FlightRadar24 showed the plane crashed at a speed of 31,000 feet per minute.
Authorities said the pilots did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers and planes nearby during the rapid descent.
The tragedy has shocked the nation and sent its social media into overdrive as netizens scoured what little there was for clues.
China’s cyberspace watchdog has ordered internet platforms and websites to crack down on netizens spreading rumors and conspiracy theories and any online mockery of the disaster.
Since the crash, authorities have suspended users and closed accounts to deal with more than 167,000 rumors ranging from the death of seven directors at a company to divine prophecies of a plane crash by the end of March.
It was too early to determine the cause of the crash, and crashes are usually the result of a combination of factors, experts say.
China is leading the investigation into the crash. The United States was also invited to participate as the Boeing 737-800 was designed and manufactured there.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is working with US and Chinese authorities to resolve visa and COVID quarantine issues ahead of participation.
Reporting by Ryan Woo and Huiling Zhou; Edited by Christopher Cushing and Gerry Doyle