No survivors of a China Eastern Airlines plane crash have been found as search efforts entered a second day Tuesday, according to Chinese state media.
In China’s worst air disaster in more than a decade, the Boeing 737-800 — carrying 132 people — crashed Monday afternoon in a remote, mountainous region in the south of the country as it flew from Kunming to Guangzhou.
The cause of the crash is not yet clear, and authorities have not released any more information on casualties. According to state-run China Youth Daily, investigators on site, facing difficult terrain and poor weather, have not located the plane’s so-called black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — which could hold crucial clues to how the disaster unfolded.
Photos and videos posted by state media show giant plumes of smoke rising above the mountains following the crash. Search and rescue crews wade through the thicket, scattered with debris and plane parts. Wallets, ID cards and fragments of a phone were among personal belongings strewn on the ground, China Youth Daily reported.
“Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but at present, none of those missing aboard the plane have been found,” state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday morning, citing rescue teams.
The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers over the city of Wuzhou. In the minutes before the disaster, it had been at a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet (about 8,900 meters), according to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24. Then, the jet nosedived so quickly that it plunged more than 25,000 feet (7,600 meters) in under two minutes.
Security footage from a mining company near the crash site shows what appears to be a plane hurtling toward the forest, nearly vertical in its rapid fall. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video, or that the aircraft is China Eastern Flight 5735 — but the steep decline matches the flight tracking data.
Witnesses reported seeing a fiery explosion, airplane parts and clothing tangled in the trees, and swathes of the woods aflame.
One item retrieved from the crash site, a handwritten note describing the significance of traditional jade jewelry, was photographed and spread widely online. The jewelry signifies “a complete life, a smooth career, family happiness, inner peace … which outlines people’s expectations of life,” the note read — prompting messages of mourning on Chinese social media.
Relatives of passengers on China Eastern flight MU5375 at the holding area of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on March 22.
On Monday evening, relatives of the passengers gathered in the Guangzhou airport, waiting for any news of their loved ones as authorities launched an investigation into the crash.
Due to the apparent speed of the crash, there is little chance anyone on board survived or that there will be clear remains left to identify, said David Soucie, a former safety inspector at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). CNN
