What are the newest clues in China’s aircraft crash?
WUZHOU, China (AP) — Upload rain to the listing of demanding situations dealing with Chinese language investigators looking to decide why a passenger jet with 132 other people on board crashed in a far flung forested area this week.
The seek for the black containers and any survivors — a far flung risk at very best — used to be briefly suspended Wednesday because of rain at the muddy, charred mountainside.
The China Japanese Airways Boeing 737-800 used to be flying at 29,000 ft (8,800 meters) on Monday afternoon when it nosedived into an opening within the mountains outdoor the southern Chinese language town of Wuzhou.
WHAT HAVE RESCUERS FOUND?
Rescuers with sniffer canine and drones have discovered wallets, identification playing cards and small portions of aircraft particles. Government have given no indication they discovered survivors, our bodies or the aircraft’s “black field” flight recorders.
Portions of the aircraft are scattered over a large space, together with the opposite facet of the mountain, state broadcaster CCTV mentioned. The primary crash space, now a big barren pit within the forested mountainside, is ready part the scale of a soccer box.
Searchers should climb steep inclines as they fan out within the space, which is surrounded on 3 facets by way of mountains and obtainable by way of a dust highway.
WHAT ARE INVESTIGATORS SAYING?
Investigators have declined to talk about imaginable causes for the crash. Zhu Tao, director of the Workplace of Aviation Protection of the Civil Aviation Management of China, mentioned injury to the airplane used to be critical, which makes the investigation “very tricky.”
“We can not have a transparent evaluation of the reason for the twist of fate with the guidelines these days to be had,” Zhu mentioned at a Tuesday evening information convention, the primary because the crash..
Government are “sporting out in-depth investigation” of the airplane’s design and upkeep, air visitors keep an eye on, climate and different problems, he mentioned.
WHAT ABOUT THE BLACK BOXES?
Investigators will make an all-out effort to assemble proof, with a focal point on discovering the flight recorder, Tao mentioned.
Improving the so-called black containers is vital to the investigation – they’re in most cases painted orange for visibility, however the longtime title has caught. One software, referred to as the flight knowledge recorder, captures details about the aircraft’s airspeed, altitude, path up or down, pilot movements, and function of all key techniques. The cockpit voice recorder captures sounds together with conversations and background engine noise right through the flight.
Even with the level of the wear and tear to the aircraft, investigators must be capable of get a good suggestion of what took place if the black containers survived and will also be downloaded.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PLANE?
The 6 1/2-year-old aircraft’s “technical situation used to be strong” and met necessities to fly, mentioned Solar Shiying, the the chairman of the Yunnan provincial department of China Japanese Airways.
The flight had departed town of Kunming in Yunnan and used to be headed to Guangzhou in Guangdong province.
The 737-800 has a very good protection report, mentioned Hassan Shahidi, president of the Flight Protection Basis. It’s from an previous era of the 737 collection than the Boeing 737 Max jets, that have been grounded after crashes in 2018 and 2019. The 737-800 does now not have the flight keep an eye on instrument that used to be blamed for the 737 Max crashes.
HOW HAS THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT RESPONDED?
The central executive has despatched a crew led by way of Vice Premier Liu He and a senior Cupboard professional, State Councilor Wang Yong, to the website online to “information rescue paintings” and the investigation of the crash
