US investigators fly to China to aid in plane crash probe

US accident investigators arrived in China on Saturday to help authorities look for clues into what caused last months crash of a Boeing jetliner with 132 people aboardThe sevenmember team from the National Transportation Safety Board will participate in the Civil Aviation Administration of Chinas investigation of the March 21 crash of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737800As part of that assistance the planes cockpit voice recorder is being downloaded and analysed at a US lab in Washington federal officials said FridayInvestigators hope the recording will explain why the plane went into a nosedive from about 8800 metres 29000 feet over a mountainous region in southeastern ChinaChinese officials have said that air traffic controllers were unable to get a response from the pilots while the plane was descendingThe cockpit voice recorder would pick up voices and other sounds from microphones worn by the pilots and another stationed over their headsSearchers also recovered the planes flightdata recorder which constantly captures speed altitude heading and other information and the performance of key systems on the aircraft but that recorder was not being evaluated in Washington on FridayThe NTSB said its investigators will limit contact with people outside the investigation so that they can start their work immediately without going through a quarantine periodThe plane that crashed was not a 737 Max a newer model that was temporarily grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes in Indonesia and EthiopiaThe impact caused by the crash in China created a 20metre 65foot deep crater set off a fire in the surrounding forest and smashed the plane into small parts scattered over a wide area some of them buried underground More than 49000 pieces of debris have been recovered along with some human remains and personal itemsA Chinese aviation safety official said a preliminary investigation report would be completed within 30 days of the crashFlight MU5735 with 123 passengers and nine crew members was headed from the southwestern city of Kunming the capital of Yunnan province to Guangzhou a major city and export manufacturing hub near Hong Kong in southeastern ChinaThe 737800 has an excellent safety record and the Chinese airline industry has had relatively few mishaps in recent yearsBefore last months accident the last fatal crash of a Chinese airliner occurred in August 2010 when an Embraer ERJ 190100 operated by Henan Airlines hit the ground short of the runway in the northeastern city of Yichun and caught fire killing 44 people Investigators blamed pilot errorThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever