flight MU5735 Photo:CFP

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As of 7 pm Wednesday, rescuers have searched a total area of 46,000 square meters and found some aircraft wreckage and human tissue debris following the crash of flight MU5735. The items have been transferred to the investigation working team, officials said on Wednesday night. 

One of the crashed plane's two black boxes found on Wednesday afternoon has been identified as the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), according to a news conference held in Wuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday. 

The black box, which was installed in the cockpit of the aircraft and recorded conversations, has been sent to a professional civil aviation agency in Beijing for decoding.

The CVR looks badly damaged from the outside, but its storage unit looks relatively intact, said Zhu Tao, director of the aviation safety office of the CAAC on Wednesday night. If the black box's internal memory unit has been damaged, it may take longer to decode. 

The onsite fire and rescue personnel will spare no effort in searching for the other black box, the flight data recorder (FDR), in order to help determine the cause of the accident. 

Investigation found the weather on the route of MU5735 was suitable for flying and there was no hazardous weather when the plane crashed. The communication connection between the flight and the ground was normal from the plane's departure until its sudden fall in altitude. 

China Eastern Airlines revealed at the press conference that the plane, a Boeing 737-800, was introduced in June 2015. It had been maintained under strict standards of technical plans and in normal conditions. Before departure, the aircraft met the requirement for flying. 

The airline said grounding all planes of the same model doesn't mean this model has safety risks, but it is an emergency response to major safety incidents and is a responsible move for travelers' safety. The company has enough transport capabilities and won't be affected by the suspension of some planes. 

The three pilots were all in good health and their flying certificates were within the validity period. Their families are harmonious, according to the press conference. The three pilot staff were the captain, the co-pilot and an observer.

Global Times