China Eastern plane crash: Main search over, report being prepared

BEIJING • China has completed the main search and rescue work at the site of a China Eastern Airlines plane crash last week, and plans to complete a preliminary report within 30 days of the event, an aviation official said yesterday.

A final report into the crash of the Boeing 737-800 will be completed and made public after the investigation is concluded, Civil Aviation Administration of China's (CAAC) safety chief Zhu Tao told reporters.

The plane, which left Kunming in south-west Yunnan province and was bound for Guangzhou in the south, crashed into a mountainous area in Teng county in Guangxi on March 21. All 132 people on board were killed.

Under international rules, a 30-day report must be lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the United Nations aviation agency, but it does not need to be public. A final report is due within a year of the crash, though sometimes it can take longer.

Mr Zhu said the authorities have done preliminary analyses of the crash, such as predicting the possible trajectory, position and impact force of the plane when it hit the ground and reading data from air traffic control radar systems.

CAAC investigators are also working to decode the data from both the black boxes, he added.

Investigators from the United States National Transportation Safety Board are set to travel to China to support the CAAC's investigation.

A total of 49,117 pieces of wreckage had been recovered as at 4pm on Wednesday after a core area covering over 400,000 sq m was searched, said Mr Zhang Zhiwen, an official with the government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

"We will leave no stone unturned to find out the cause of the accident and prevent similar accidents from happening again," said Mr Zhu.

REUTERS, XINHUA