On Tuesday, March 22, Chinese investigators announced that no survivors of a China Eastern Airlines plane crash had been found after the second day of search efforts. The ill-fated Boeing 737-800 plane carried 132 people, making this the worst air disaster in China in over a decade, leaving the victims' families heartbroken.
According to the Guardian, the plane was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou on Monday afternoon when it suddenly crashed in a remote, mountainous region in the south of China. During Tuesday's news conference, Chinese air crash investigators told reporters that communications with the airline crew could not be established in the final moments before the plane crashed.
According to Sun Shiying, a representative for China Eastern Airlines, the flight took off at 1:16 p.m. from Kunming and was flying normally. Sun said that it arrived over Wuzhou city of Guangxi province at around 2:21 p.m. Sun added that the ground station noticed the China Eastern Airlines plane having a sudden altitude change. The ground station lost communication with the aircraft before it eventually crashed.
Search ongoing for black boxes of China Eastern Airlines plane
Sun made it clear that the aircraft had passed pre-flight checks, and the nine crew members onboard the China Eastern Airlines plane were all qualified and healthy. An official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) also issued a statement, saying the cause of the crash is not yet clear and that the investigation team will spare no effort to collect evidence from all parties involved as they focus on the search.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that investigators still have not located the plane's black boxes with rugged terrain and poor weather hampering their search. According to a report by CNN, the black boxes are flight data and cockpit voice recorders which could hold vital clues to how the plane crash unfolded.
Investigators warned that determining the cause of the crash would be very difficult given the severity of the damage on the plane. State media posted photos and videos showing giant plumes of smoke rising above the mountains following the plane crash.
Families and friends of passengers grieving after plane crash
Local media outlets also reported that wallets, fragments of a phone, and ID cards were among the personal belongings found on the ground near the crash site. According to witnesses, they saw a fiery explosion and clothing and airplane parts tangled in the trees near the crash area.
Relatives of the passengers gathered at Guangzhou airport on Monday evening as they waited for any news regarding their loved ones. According to a report by the BBC, families and friends of the victims also gathered at China Eastern's offices in Yunnan province. They were left heartbroken upon hearing the news that no survivors were found in the China Eastern Airlines plane crash.
David Soucie, a former safety inspector at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said there is little chance anyone on board the China Eastern Airlines plane survived or that there will be clear remains of the passengers left to identify due to the apparent speed of the crash.
