No survivors found; search for black box continues

BEIJING — Rescue workers haven’t found any survivors from this week’s China Eastern Airlines crash and the hunt for the black box continues, authorities said late Tuesday.

A Boeing 737-800 flight carrying 132 people nosedived Monday afternoon in a rural, mountainous part of the southern region of Guangxi. Authorities haven’t confirmed any fatalities or shared why the crash happened.

No survivors have been found, and the Ministry of Public Security has closed off the crash site, Zhu Tao, director of the aviation safety office at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press conference Tuesday night.

Workers are still looking for the black boxes, Zhu said, referring to the technical equipment on airplanes that could reveal reasons for the crash.

Search and rescue workers face additional challenges from a sharp temperature drop and torrential rain that began Tuesday night, according to a local weather forecast.

Since the crash involved a U.S.-made plane, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it has appointed a senior air safety investigator to the China-led investigation.

The board added that representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and CFM will serve as technical advisors. CFM is a joint venture between U.S.-based General Electric and France-based Safran that manufactured the engines on the crashed plane, according to the safety board.

The nine crew members and the aircraft met flight requirements before take-off, Sun Shiying, chairman of China Eastern’s company in Yunnan province — where the flight departed from — said during Tuesday’s press conference.

China Eastern Airlines shares rose slightly in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday morning. Boeing shares gained about 2.8% overnight.