Storage cell on crashed plane's flight data recorder found intact
The storage cell of the flight data recorder of the crashed China Eastern Flight MU5735.
The storage cell of the newly found flight data recorder of the ill-fated China Eastern Flight MU5735 remains intact, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Sunday.
Other parts of the recorder had been severely damaged as the plane crashed in mountains in south China on Monday. The recorder has been sent to a professional laboratory for decoding, according to Zhu Tao, director of the CAAC flying safety office.
The black box recorder of the Boeing 737-800 was unearthed at 1.5 meters deep from a hillside about 40 meters east of the crash site around 9:20am on Sunday, Zheng Xi, head of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's fire brigade, told a press briefing.
After removing a tree root above during some accurate digging, firefighters found an orange cylindrical metal tank wrapped in mud with English signs on it, which was later confirmed as the storage cell of the flight data recorder, Zheng said.
The data from the second black box recorder can provide true and objective evidence for the analysis of the cause of the accident, Mao Yanfeng, an investigation official with CAAC, pointed out.
It records the flying altitude, speed, pitch angle, roll angle, ascent and descent, as well as the operations of the pilots and autopilot, he remarked.
Rescuers find the flight data recorder on a hillside about 40 meters east of the crash site around 9:20am on Sunday.
Investigators will combine the data of the two recorders, the evidence found on site, the radar information of the air traffic controller, the communication between the pilots and the ATC, the data transmitted from the aircraft and interviews with the witnesses together to make a comprehensive analysis, Mao explained.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft had two black box recorders manufactured by United States-based Honeywell Corp. Both were installed at the back of the aircraft.
The other recorder, the cockpit voice recorder, was found on Wednesday. It is being restored and downloaded at the CAAC lab in Beijing.
Zhu told a previous press briefing that the storage cell of the cockpit voice recorder might have been damaged, so it was unclear how long the data analysis would take.
The flight was en route from Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province to Guangzhou in southern Guangdong Province when it crashed in Tengxian County of Wuzhou City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday afternoon.
Flight MU5735 had 123 passengers on board along with nine crew – three pilots, five flight attendants and a security guard. All 132 people on board are dead, official sources confirmed on Saturday night.
Zheng said that rescuers will keep searching for the remains of the victims and aircraft debris, despite the risk of landslide on the hills near the accident site following the plane crash, continuous rains and excavation. High-definition sensors have been deployed to monitor the movement of the hill.
Rescuers keep digging in the core area of the crash site.
New video evidence found
Amid the search at the crash site, nine new items belonging to the victims and 729 pieces of aircraft debris were found on Sunday along with some more remains of the victims. Rescuers searched an area covering about 3,000 square meters.
A total of 33,777 pieces of aircraft debris had been located as of Sunday noon, Zhu said.
As a key new finding, a video about the air crash has also been found about eight kilometers from the site, after searching and interviewing many witnesses, he added.
Meanwhile, 99 psychology professionals have so far offered 1,611 consultation sessions to 357 family members of the victims, Yin Ping, leader of the psychologists' team, disclosed.
"Many have accepted the fact that their relatives were gone a week after the accident," Yin said. "We're guiding them to let go of their sadness naturally."
The psychologists, including five national-level and seven provincial-level experts, are based in 11 hotels, where the relatives are staying, and the mourning place near the crash site.
The professionals have also offered consultations to 432 rescuers who have been exposed to the sad atmosphere at the site of the disaster and are exhausted, Yin stated.
China Eastern has initiated a claim settlement for the victims' relatives, according to Liu Xiaodong, director of the airline's publicity department.
A compensation standard will be released according to laws and regulations as well as after communicating with the family members and listening to their requirements, Liu said.
