China has issued visas to U.S. investigators and technical advisers to support its probe into the crash of China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jetliner, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday.
“The team hopes to depart this week,” the NTSB said in a tweet, adding that China has also issued visas to technical advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Boeing Co. and 737-800 engine maker CFM, the NTSB also said.
Under an international agreement, the NTSB has the right to participate since the plane was designed and built in the United States.
However, it is still unclear whether the U.S. team will need to quarantine in China under its COVID-19 protocols, said the NTSB, noting that the issue is still under discussion as China has been experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases.
For the Chinese side, it hasn’t officially responded to the visas being issued. Earlier, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that China will conduct investigations according to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, its Annexes and Chinese civil aviation laws and regulations and maintain close contact with all parties concerned.
Boeing 737-800 crash
The Boeing 737-800 plane crashed into a mountainous area in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 21, killing all 132 people onboard.
Recovery crews on Sunday found the second black box, the flight data recorder, at the crash site. So far, both the black boxes have been found and transported to Beijing for decoding and analysis.
Only after that can an initial assessment can be formed. The process usually takes about 10 days to two weeks, said Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, a Chinese magazine specializing in news and information of the aerospace sector.
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