China Eastern plane crash: One of two black boxes found

Chinese investigators have recovered one of two black boxes from the crash site of China Eastern flight MU5735.

Officials with the Civil Aviation Authority of China said the device was so damaged that they were unsure if it was a flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder, The Associated Press reported.

Mao Yanfeng, the accident investigation division director, did not say if the recording device inside the box was damaged.

He said search crews are still trying to find the second black box.

While they are called black boxes, the devices are actually orange so they can be easily seen, the AP reported.

Rain fell on the crash site causing the search to be temporarily halted.

Crews are using hand tools, drones and dogs to look for any human remains. They’re also pumping water out from the pit where the plane hit the ground.

Mao said the crew members were all healthy and had regular contact with air traffic controllers during the flight. The plane had a clean maintenance record and the weather was good during the flight.

Flight MU5735 went into a dive, dropping from a cruising altitude of 29,098 feet to 4,375 feet in a matter of three minutes, CNN reported.

According to FlightRadar24, the plane fell at a rate of 31,000 feet a minute, or about the height of a 50-story building every second, according to Reuters.

Eyewitnesses said they saw a plane falling from the sky.

“The plane fell vertically from the sky. Although I was very far away, I could still see that it was a plane. The plane did not smoke during the fall. The fire started after it fell into the mountain, followed by a lot of smoke,” the witness said, according to CNN.

There were 132 people on board the flight. No survivors have been found, Reuters reported.

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