US NTSB assisting in China crash flight data recorder review

The NTSB confirmed on Tuesday it is assisting Chinese investigators with the review of the flight data recorder in a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 that crashed March 21 killing all 132 onboard. Reuters first reported Friday the NTSB was assisting the CAAC with the download of the cockpit voice recorder at the US lab in Washington. NTSB had repeatedly declined to answer questions about the status of the flight data recorder until Tuesday when it confirmed assistance with that recorder as well. The plane crashed into a mountainside in southern China on March 21 killing all 132 on board. It was mainland China's deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years. Heading to coastal Guangzhou from the southwestern city of Kunming, the plane dove from cruising altitude around the time it should have started its landing descent. The flight data recorder could shed light on the cause of the crash. The flight briefly appeared to pull out of its nosedive before resuming its plunge to earth, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Its data showed the aircraft was plummeting 31,000 feet per minute.<br/>