China's Eastern Airlines 'Black Box' Search Continues... Still Not Recovered 3 Days After Accident

China Accident Response Headquarters: Must Find Black Box to Accurately Determine Cause of Accident
Recovery Difficult in Dense Forested Mountain Area; Survivors and Fatalities Still Missing

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The black box of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800NG passenger plane (MU 5735), presumed to have crashed around 14:23 on the 21st, has not yet been found.

Photo by Global Times capture

Although Chinese authorities have launched a search operation, neither the deceased nor survivors have been found, leaving families anxious. Only some debris from the aircraft and a few personal belongings presumed to belong to passengers have been recovered.

According to Chinese media including the state-run Global Times on the 23rd, the China National Accident Investigation Headquarters (hereafter Headquarters) held a press conference the previous night to explain the search and rescue situation.

The Headquarters explained that China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 took off from Kunming Changshui Airport in Yunnan Province at 13:16 on March 21 and entered the Guangzhou control zone at 14:17.

At the time of entry, the aircraft altitude was 8,900 meters. At 14:20, the controller confirmed a rapid drop in the aircraft's altitude and immediately called the MU5735 pilot, but there was no response. Three minutes later, at 14:23, the aircraft disappeared from radar. There were 132 people on board, including 123 passengers (no foreign passengers) and 9 crew members (3 pilots, 5 cabin crew, and 1 safety officer).

The accident aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 model introduced by China Eastern Airlines on June 22, 2015, and had a total flight time of 18,239 hours at the time of the accident, the Headquarters explained.

The Headquarters added that they have sealed off the accident site and deployed a large number of personnel for the search, but no survivors or deceased have been confirmed.

The black box of flight MU5735, which will clarify the cause of the accident, has not yet been recovered. Two black boxes are installed on the aircraft: one at the front and one at the rear tail section.

The Global Times reported that the recovery of the black box is a key demand of the investigation team led by the State Council and that all efforts must be made to search for the black box.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency Capture

The Global Times explained that the black box is designed to withstand external shocks such as explosions and that its battery life is about 30 days. It also reported that the crash site is a mountainous area covered with dense forest, making black box recovery difficult.

Xinhua News Agency also reported that recovering the black box is important to determine the cause of the accident.

Zhang Ziyuan, Deputy Director of the General Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said, "After the accident, 2,000 rescue workers including firefighters are searching the accident site," adding, "We are working to recover the black box along with searching for survivors and the deceased."

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and State Councilor Wang Yong visited the accident site the previous day and urged, "We must not give up hope for rescue," and "Please do your utmost to search for survivors and the deceased."

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced that it will conduct a two-week safety inspection of the aviation industry to eliminate potential risks in civil aviation and ensure absolute safety in flight operations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.