China Plane Crash: Second Black Box, Flight Data Recorder Yet To Be Found, State Media Clarifies

Emergency workers on the ground have been scouring the forest-clad mountains of China's southern Guangxi region for victims of Flight MU5735 that crashed on Monday. No survivors have been found so far in a tragedy that has shocked the nation.

Beijing: Soon after there were reports that China found a second black box, days after a plane with 132 aboard crashed, state-run Xinhua news agency on Friday said the flight data recorder was yet to be found. Rescuers recovered one of the two black boxes on Wednesday. The device, the plane’s cockpit voice recorder, has been sent to Beijing. It could take 10 to 15 days to arrive at a preliminary analysis, and longer before a final conclusion can be presented in a report, according to Chinese state media.

Emergency workers on the ground have been scouring the forest-clad mountains of China’s southern Guangxi region for victims of Flight MU5735 that crashed on Monday. No survivors have been found so far in a tragedy that has shocked the nation.

The jet was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou on the coast when it plummeted from cruising altitude at about the time when it should have started its descent to its destination.

The government has yet to release the pilots’ names, but news reports identified the captain as Yang Hongda. The co-pilot, according to news reports, was Zhang Zheng, a veteran with 32,000 hours of flying time in a 30-year career.

The investigation is being led by China but the United States was invited to take part because the Boeing 737-800 was designed and manufactured there.

“When we enter the accident investigation stage, we will invite relevant parties to participate in the accident investigation according to relevant regulations,” Zhu said.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that Chinese authorities had invited the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to take part in the investigation, adding that he was very encouraged by the invitation to be on the ground in China.

The NTSB, however, later said it had not yet determined if investigators would travel to China in light of visa and quarantine requirements.