Chinese air crash latest

With both the flight data and cockpit voice recorder recovered identifying the cause of an accident is usually relatively easy.

This has not been the case with this China Eastern incident which happened on 21 March.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) detailed some of the findings of the preliminary report in a statement on its website on 20 April.
 
The CAAC said that the so-called ‘black boxes’ sustained severe damage and work is still continuing to recover the contents and analyse the data.  As per international air accident investigation protocols, preliminary reports are typically published within 30 days of an incident or accident.

According to the preliminary report, the flight and cabin crew were fully qualified and there were no maintenance faults. The aircraft was not carrying any dangerous cargo, there were no severe weather conditions and the navigation and monitoring equipment involved in the flight was normal.  

The statement also said radio communications between the crew and air traffic control were normal, with the last call occurring at 14:16 local time.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou with 132 passengers on board when it plunged from its cruising altitude at about 14:20 local time.   

It took authorities several days after the crash to recover the aircraft’s flight data and cockpit voice recorder. The main impact caused a crater 2.7 meters deep, the CAAC said, with major parts of the aircraft, including the horizontal stabilizer, vertical tail, rudder, engines, wings, fuselage parts, landing gear and cockpit parts, being found at the scene.

China Eastern grounded its fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the crash for checks but returned them to service within a month.  

www.caac.gov.cn

https://uk.ceair.com

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