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No survivors from China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 which crashed on Monday afternoon have been found as of 9 pm Tuesday, 30 hours after the accident, said the State Council investigation team at a news conference on Tuesday night in Wuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
As of Tuesday night, search and rescue at the crash site is ongoing. More than 2,000 rescuers have arrived at the site from Guangxi, where the accident took place, and from other provinces.
Previous releases showed that there were 123 passengers and 9 crew members, including three pilots, five crew members and one safety officer on board. There were no foreign passengers.
According to the release at the news conference, the crashed flight, MU5735, departed Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province at 1:16 pm Monday. At 2:17 pm, it entered Guangzhou air traffic control area at a cruising altitude of 8,900 meters. At 2:20 pm, the ground controller found a sharp drop in its altitude and repeatedly called the crew, but did not receive any reply.
At 2:23 pm, the plane's radar signal disappeared. It was later verified that the plane crashed in Tengxian county of Wuzhou, Guangxi.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, said the officials, noting that the plane involved sustained serious damages, which increases the difficulty for the investigation.
The investigation team promised to make every effort to collect all evidence and announce their progress in due course.
At present, onsite personnel have not found traces of the black box. The search will depend on drones and manpower as the crash site is in an area of forested mountains, which will add difficulty to the search.
Zhu Tao, director of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said the major task for now is to search for the two black boxes which were on board as soon as possible and then immediately carry out data analysis of the black boxes.
At the same time, the emergency response team must also lay emphasis on reassuring the families of the victims, assistance and services, and properly handle the aftermath. Epidemic prevention and control and information release work will also be the focuses of the next step.
At the conference, a spokesperson for China Eastern Airlines said the plane is 6.8 years old and met airworthiness requirements before takeoff. The crew was in good health and had complete flight experience.
China Eastern Airlines is actively cooperating with higher authorities to investigate the cause of the accident.
The airline made contact with the families of all 123 passengers on board within 24 hours of the accident, said Sun Shiying, Chairman of China's Eastern Airlines' branch in Yunnan.
A work team of over 160 experts has been dispatched to offer help to the families.
Global Times
No survivors from China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 which crashed on Monday afternoon have been found as of 9 pm Tuesday, 30 hours after the accident, said the State Council investigation team at a news conference on Tuesday night in Wuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
As of Tuesday night, search and rescue at the crash site is ongoing. More than 2,000 rescuers have arrived at the site from Guangxi, where the accident took place, and from other provinces.
Previous releases showed that there were 123 passengers and 9 crew members, including three pilots, five crew members and one safety officer on board. There were no foreign passengers.
According to the release at the news conference, the crashed flight, MU5735, departed Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province at 1:16 pm Monday. At 2:17 pm, it entered Guangzhou air traffic control area at a cruising altitude of 8,900 meters. At 2:20 pm, the ground controller found a sharp drop in its altitude and repeatedly called the crew, but did not receive any reply.
At 2:23 pm, the plane's radar signal disappeared. It was later verified that the plane crashed in Tengxian county of Wuzhou, Guangxi.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, said the officials, noting that the plane involved sustained serious damages, which increases the difficulty for the investigation.
The investigation team promised to make every effort to collect all evidence and announce their progress in due course.
At present, onsite personnel have not found traces of the black box. The search will depend on drones and manpower as the crash site is in an area of forested mountains, which will add difficulty to the search.
Zhu Tao, director of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said the major task for now is to search for the two black boxes which were on board as soon as possible and then immediately carry out data analysis of the black boxes.
At the same time, the emergency response team must also lay emphasis on reassuring the families of the victims, assistance and services, and properly handle the aftermath. Epidemic prevention and control and information release work will also be the focuses of the next step.
At the conference, a spokesperson for China Eastern Airlines said the plane is 6.8 years old and met airworthiness requirements before takeoff. The crew was in good health and had complete flight experience.
China Eastern Airlines is actively cooperating with higher authorities to investigate the cause of the accident.
The airline made contact with the families of all 123 passengers on board within 24 hours of the accident, said Sun Shiying, Chairman of China's Eastern Airlines' branch in Yunnan.
A work team of over 160 experts has been dispatched to offer help to the families.
Global Times
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