Chinese authorities officially confirmed Saturday that there were no survivors in the crash of a China Eastern 737-800 earlier this week with 132 people on board. The announcement by an official of the Civil Aviation Administration of China at a late-night news conference was followed by a brief moment of silence. Investigators have identified 120 of the victims through DNA analysis, state media reported.
Authorities said forensic and criminal investigation experts had confirmed the identities of 114 passengers and six crew members. Searchers have found ID and bank cards belonging to the victims.
The flight from the city of Kunming in southwestern China was flying at 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) last Monday when it suddenly nosedived into a mountainous area, shortly before it would have started its descent to the airport in Guangzhou, a provincial capital and export manufacturing hub near Hong Kong on China’s southeastern coast. On Sunday, firefighters, construction crews and experts located the second black box. The two black boxes should help investigators determine what caused the plane to plummet.
The remote setting and rainy and muddy conditions have complicated the search for the black boxes and wreckage. Images posted by CGTN, the international arm of CCTV, showed an official holding an orange cylindrical object on site with the words “FLIGHT RECORDER” and “DO NOT OPEN” written on it. It appeared slightly dented but intact.
The cockpit voice recorder, also an orange cylinder, was found two days after the crash on Wednesday. It has been sent to a Beijing lab for examination and analysis, and the flight data recorder was also being sent to the Chinese capital for decoding.
Search teams 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 wider passageways to the site, and pumps are being used to drain collected water from the rain. Officials said monitors have been installed to detect possible landslides from the rain and search activity that could endanger the workers.
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.
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.
By KEN MORITSUGU
Photo: Search and rescue teams working on the scene, March 25. Credit: 中国新闻网 via YouTube.