Search and rescue efforts continue in China Eastern crash; airline confirms fatalities

BEIJING - Overnight rescue efforts in a densely forested area in Guangxi where a China Eastern Airlines plane crashed have yet to yield any survivors, officials said on Tuesday (March 22) as the airline confirmed that there had been fatalities. 

Flight MU5735 crashed in Teng County on Monday afternoon while on its way from Kunming in Yunnan to Guangzhou city.

There were 132 people on board, of which 123 were passengers and nine were crew. The plane is believed to have plunged into a steep and heavily wooded valley. 

Firefighters and police were seen picking through personal belongings and plane debris, including what appeared to be a plane door, state media footage showed.

The footage also showed a burnt wallet and identity cards. 

Scorch marks were visible from the crash and resulting fire, rescue workers told Agence France-Presse, with one speculating that passengers and their belongings had been “totally incinerated” from the intensity of the blaze.

The airline has confirmed there are fatalities. “The company expresses its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died in the plane crash,” said China Eastern in a statement without providing further information. 

Shortly after the crash was confirmed on Monday, the carrier had turned its website and social media pages black and white, a sign of mourning. 

State media have described the situation as grim, and said that the possibility of all onboard perishing could not be ruled out, Reuters reported.
 

Among the passengers was the chief financial officer of Dinglong Culture, a Guangzhou-headquartered firm whose businesses range from entertainment to titanium mining.

A provincial daily cited a woman as saying six of her family members and friends were on the flight to Guangzhou, where they had been due to attend a funeral.

Rescuers had said on Monday that nightfall had hampered search and rescue efforts, and that there had been no running electricity in the area. 

A drone base station has since been set up to boost telecommunications coverage while dozens of tents have been set up with ambulances on the ready in hopes of finding any survivors, said state broadcaster CCTV.

But officials expect heavy rain, predicted for the rest of the week, to further complicate operations in the mountainous area. 

Vice-Premier Liu He and State Councillor Wang Yong, who are in charge of rescue efforts, have made their way towards the crash site, located close to the border with Guangdong. 

A press conference is expected later in the day, the official People’s Daily reported. 

Meanwhile in Guangzhou Baiyun airport, where the plane was meant to have arrived shortly after 3pm on Monday, a special waiting area has been set aside for relatives desperate for news. 

Local officials have also cleared out five hotels in Teng County for family members. 

Flight tracking data showed the six-year-old plane was flying steadily on its flight path until it abruptly lost altitude at about 2.20pm, plunging about 8,000m in two minutes.

Surveillance footage from a local mining company showed a plane nosediving before crashing into dense foliage.

The plane was not a Boeing 737 Max, the model that was grounded around the world after two deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. 

The jet involved in Monday’s crash was a Boeing 737-800, widely considered one of the safest planes made.

China Eastern, the country’s second-largest carrier by passenger numbers, has 102 of the jets, all of which have been grounded, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Monday’s crash was China’s worst aviation disaster in more than a decade.

In 2010, an Embraer E190 operated by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu Airport in Heilongjiang during heavy fog, killing 44 of the 96 on board. 

In November 2004, a China Eastern plane crashed two minutes after take-off in Inner Mongolia, killing all 53 on board and two more on the ground. 

It was the carrier’s deadliest accident to date and was caused by ground crew not de-icing the plane while it was parked on the tarmac.