China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735: second black box sent for decoding
- The plane’s data recorder could reveal details of its speed and altitude before it crashed in southern China
- The black box was found buried under 1.5 metres of soil, state broadcaster CCTV reports
Zhu Tao, aviation safety chief at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said firefighters found the flight data recorder’s storage unit at around 9.20am buried under about 1.5 metres (5 feet) of soil.
“After an inspection, save for the storage unit exterior that is in fairly good condition, the other parts of the recorder suffered severe damage,” Zhu said.
The device could offer vital clues as to why the plane dived from a cruising altitude of about 8,869 metres, becoming the deadliest aviation disaster in China since 1994.
The Boeing 737-800 was en route from Kunming in southwestern China to Guangzhou, but lost contact over the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
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Searchers used metal detectors to look for the device in hilly terrain near Wuzhou. Despite the name, black boxes are painted in high-visibility orange to make them easier to find.
