Plane crash in China: Second black box found

A second recorder containing data on the plane that crashed in China was recovered Sunday and will help solve the mystery of the plane’s dizzy crash in minutes.

China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800, which connects the Chinese cities of Kunming (southwest) and Guangzhou (south), crashed into a tree-lined mountain in Wuzhou (south) in Guangxi province on Monday.

The cause of the disaster, which killed 123 passengers and nine crew, is not yet known. Everyone on board was Chinese.

The first flight recorder with conversations in the cockpit was discovered Wednesday and sent to Beijing to decode. Its analysis should take several more days.

“The second black box of the China Eastern Flight MU5735 was discovered on March 27,” the Chinese news agency quoted the relief operations command center as saying on Sunday.

This recorder contains flight data such as speed, altitude and title.

– Orange cylinder –

Public broadcast CCTV aired footage of rescuers rescuing an orange cylinder covered in some soil found at a depth of 1.5 meters at the roots of a tree.

The two black boxes on the now-discovered plane should give investigators the first elements of the answer to the cause of the crash within a few days or weeks.

After confirming the identities of most of the victims through DNA tests, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) announced on Saturday evening that everyone on board was dead.

It was the worst plane crash in China since 1994, yet is considered by aviation safety experts to be the best.

Hundreds of rescuers and investigators, some in full white protective clothing, continued their search Sunday at the scene of the tragedy.

On this sloping and muddy hill surrounded by dense vegetation, with the help of orange or yellow diggers, they recovered aircraft debris, human remains and any organs that could be used for interrogation.

– Diving –

According to special platform FlightRadar24, the device lost about 21,250 feet (6,477 meters) in a minute.

After a brief ascent, he sank again at 4,625 feet (1,410 meters), 3,225 feet (983 meters) above the ground, according to the plot. No data for the next flight.

According to many experts, this data is relatively unusual.

China Eastern said there was no doubt so far about the captain and his two co-pilots amassing 6,709, 31,769 and 556 flight time, respectively.

Based on a preliminary investigation, the airline said the pilots’ service records were “very good” and their family circumstances were “compliant”.