Black box found from Boeing passenger jet that crashed in China, state media says

BEIJING — One of the two black boxes containing data from Monday’s China Eastern Airlines plane crash has been found, Chinese state media said Wednesday.

The black boxes are the technical equipment on airplanes that could reveal reasons for the crash.

The box found was “heavily damaged,” state media said, noting that it was not immediately clear whether it was the one that recorded flight data or cockpit communications with air traffic controllers.

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.

Rescue workers haven’t found any survivors from this week’s crash, authorities said late Tuesday.

The plane was cruising at 29,100 feet Monday afternoon, before beginning a sharp descent that was briefly broken up by a 1,000-foot climb, according to FlightRadar24 data. In all, the plane plunged more than 25,000 feet in about two minutes.

Within hours after the crash, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered top officials to investigate the matter.

Since the crash involved a U.S.-made plane, U.S. agencies and companies will also participate in the probe.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it has appointed a senior air safety investigator to the China-led investigation, and 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, the safety board said.