US NTSB helps China download voice record of crashed Boeing jet

The US NTSB said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of US investigators to China. The US safety board said it was helping the Civil Aviation Administration of China “with the download of the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington.” China’s decision to send a key piece of evidence to Washington for assistance shows the urgency of the investigation at a time when the two nations have been at odds on other issues. The plane crashed into a mountainside in southern China on March 21 killing all 132 on board and was mainland China’s deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years. Recovery crews on Sunday found the second black box - the flight data recorder - in the wreckage. The cockpit voice recorder will likely provide investigators with details of communications between the flight’s three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board the Boeing plane. Earlier Friday, the NTSB said a team of three investigators had left for China to assist in the crash probe. The NTSB said “investigators will limit interactions with those outside of investigation similar to safety protocols at Beijing Olympics, which will allow them to begin work immediately without a quarantine.” The team includes the US accredited representative Sathya Silva, who is an NTSB senior aviation accident investigator. An NTSB spokesman said the US team was traveling on a commercial flight. It was not clear if team will travel to the crash site in China and for how the long team will be in China but it could be several weeks. The NTSB also said a small team from Boeing is also traveling China to assist in the investigation. Under an international agreement, the NTSB has the right to participate since the plane was designed and built in the United States.<br/>