China examines cockpit voice recorder from Boeing 737 crashed

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3 years ago

Chinese investigators began examining the cockpit voice recorder from a China Eastern Airlines jet that plunged into mountainside with 132 people on board as recovery crews searched muddy fields on Thursday for a second black box.

The recording material from the first black box, found on Wednesday, appeared to have survived the impact of Monday’s crash in relatively good shape, a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) official said.

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The cockpit voice recorder would provide investigators with details of communications between the flight’s three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board a Boeing 737-800 plane, Reuters reported.

Debris from the jetliner including engine blades, horizontal tail stabilisers and other wing remnants was concentrated within 30 metres of the main impact point, which was 20 metres deep.

One 1.3 metre-long fragment suspected to be from the plane was found about 10 km away, prompting a significant expansion of the search area, officials told a news briefing.

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No survivors have been found, and experts have said it was all but impossible that anyone could survive such an impact.

The investigation is being led by China but the United States was invited to take part because the plane was designed and manufactured there.

However, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday it had not determined if investigators would travel to China given strict visa and quarantine requirements, and Chinese officials declined to say whether or when NTSB officials would be invited.

“Our work priority is still on search and rescue, and at the same time, carrying out evidence collection and fixation work in the early stage of accident investigation,” said Zhu Tao, the CAAC’s head of aviation safety.

“However, when we enter the accident investigation stage, we will invite relevant parties to participate in the accident investigation according to relevant regulations,” he said.