Chinese civil aviation officials have said they will keep investing the cause behind the tragic crash of China Eastern flight MU5735, after a preliminary report formed on basic factual information was released on Wednesday.
The officials said international accident investigations usually take more than two years, while complex accident investigations even take longer.
The technical investigation team will continue to carry out an in-depth investigation including wreck identification, classification and inspection, flight data analysis, and necessary experimental verification to identify the cause of the accident scientifically and rigorously, Li Yong, an official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.
His remarks came on the heels of a preliminary report released by the CAAC one day earlier.
The report stated that the qualifications of the crew members and maintenance personnel on duty met requirements, further adding that the plane’s airworthiness certificate was valid, and that there were no abnormalities in navigation and surveillance equipment along the route, or dangerous weather conditions.
Since it is almost impossible to complete a full analysis of a plane accident within 30 days, the preliminary report generally does not involve the cause analysis and conclusion, Li said, explaining that the report mainly includes factual information such as flight history, flight crew, airworthiness, maintenance record, and wreckage distribution.
There are many difficulties in investigating an accident, and the evidence that can be obtained at present is relatively limited. Therefore, the main content of the preliminary report is the basic factual information, which is in line with international practice, Li added.
Chinese officials said each aircraft accident investigation is a complex systematic project, which requires comprehensive and in-depth investigations covering aircraft airworthiness, pilot operation, cockpit resource management, weather environment, and air traffic control command. Experimental verification work is also often required.
Historically, air accident investigations often require a long process. International accident investigations usually take more than two years, while complex accident investigations take longer. For example, after Air France Flight 447’s crash in 2009, the final investigation report was not released until three years following the event. The investigation surrounding an air crash in Yichun in 2010 in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province also took nearly two years.
Li said the CAAC will uncover the cause of the accident as soon as possible, and provide an investigation conclusion that can stand the test of history.
MU5735
