At about 14:00 on March 27, the whistle sounded long in the core area of the crash of China Eastern Airlines MU5735 passenger plane. “3.21” China Eastern Airlines MU5735 aircraft flight accident National Emergency Response Headquarters, the accident scene search and rescue personnel, etc. stood solemnly in the direction of the crashed aircraft, and observed a 3-minute silence to express their condolences to the victims.
Since the crash of China Eastern Airlines on March 21, rescue forces from all walks of life have quickly gathered to Mocong Village, Congnan Town, Teng County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and have carried out search and rescue work for seven consecutive days.
In the past few days, whether it is the professional rescue forces fighting in the core area of the accident, such as fire rescue, PLA commanders and fighters, and armed police officers and soldiers, the personnel from the power supply, telecommunications, medical, public security, emergency and other departments that provide support, or spontaneously provide logistical support for the front search and rescue personnel. The local village volunteers, everyone did their best and raced against time to devote themselves to the search and rescue work.
“We will search for the remains and relics of the victims as much as possible, give the victims an explanation, and give their families some comfort. We will also try our best to collect the wreckage of the plane to provide support for the follow-up accident investigation.” Commander-in-chief of the Guangxi Fire Rescue Corps Zheng Xi said.
“Never Give Up” “Go All Out”
At about 9:20 on March 27, a search and rescue team carried out manual excavation at a location 5 degrees south-southeast of the impact point in the core area and 40 meters away from the impact point. A cylindrical metal tank, wrapped in mud, with only a little orange exposed, appeared in front of him. This means that the second black box of the multi-day search for the crashed plane is likely to be found!
Chen Xiaohui, deputy head of the Nanning Fire and Rescue Detachment who participated in the on-site search and rescue, said that this was in accordance with the work deployment of the headquarters and continued to carry out detailed search and discovery at the location that had been searched for three days in the early stage. The round object resembled a black box, and they were immediately handed over to civil aviation engineers on site.
According to Zhu Tao, director of the Aviation Safety Office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, civil aviation accident investigators who conducted on-site inspections confirmed that the orange cylindrical metal tank was the storage unit of the flight data recorder. After inspection, other parts of the recorder were seriously damaged, and the data storage unit was relatively intact. At present, part of the storage unit of the recorder has been sent to a professional laboratory for decoding.
Mao Yanfeng, director of the Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Center, pointed out that there are two recorders (commonly known as “black boxes”) on the plane, one is the cockpit voice recorder and the other is the flight data recorder. “The later investigators need to combine the data of the two recorders and the evidence of the on-site investigation, the air traffic control radar data, the land-air communication between the crew and the air traffic control unit, the data between the aircraft and the ground, the data link transmission information, witness interviews and other information. , to conduct comprehensive analysis and judgment, in order to more objectively and accurately analyze the cause of the accident.” Mao Yanfeng said.
Over the past few days, rescuers have overcome unfavorable factors such as continuous rainfall, sudden drop in temperature, and scorching sun exposure, and searched for signs of life in the muddy mountains, searching for the remains and relics of the victims, and comforting the victims and their families; and as soon as possible. Find the black boxes and wreckage of the crashed plane and other key evidences to provide support for the investigation team to reveal the cause of the accident.
On the blue clapboard in the core area of the crash, striking white slogans such as “Orderly carry out search and rescue” and “Respect for life” were posted; “Go”, these words are vivid portrayals of the rescuers at the scene.
As the first rescue force to arrive at the scene of the accident, Yang Youzhi, the leader of the Tengxian Brigade of the Wuzhou City Fire Rescue Detachment, has been fighting at the rescue site for 7 consecutive days.
After arriving at the scene at 15:50 on March 21, he was faced with a large number of aircraft wreckage, a strong smell of fuel, and a wildfire that was not completely extinguished. Faced with the complicated situation, he immediately organized personnel to put out the mountain fire to prevent the fire from expanding, and guarded the scene to protect the scene. At the same time, he arranged for personnel to go deep into the surrounding mountains and forests to search. It was not until he received an order from the on-site command to evacuate all search and rescue personnel that he led the fire and rescue personnel to stand by all night at a distance of 200 meters from the core area.
The continuous rain made the roads at the search and rescue site muddy, hampering rescue operations. On the afternoon of March 23, Yang Youzhi received an order from the headquarters to focus on draining the ponds in the core area to create conditions for search and rescue operations. He led the team to use two hand-carried motorized pumps to pump the accumulated water, which created the conditions for successfully finding the first black box of the crashed plane.
Even though his eyes were bloodshot, his voice was hoarse, and he limped when he walked, Yang Youzhi always stuck to the front line of rescue. As the rescue operation continued, he received a new task to establish a fire decontamination area in the core area of the accident to provide decontamination and disinfection to rescue workers, expert groups and family members entering and leaving the core area.
The hearts of the local people are with the families of the missing passengers
From the first day of the crash, firefighting, armed police, public security, militia and other forces from many places quickly assembled to the accident site, and nearby villagers also spontaneously helped rescue in various ways.
Mo Guangnan, a 50-year-old villager from Xia Village, Conan Town, is a construction worker. On the afternoon of March 21, he suddenly heard a loud noise when he was decorating the house for his employer. At first, he thought it was a “thunder”. In the evening, he finished his work and paid for it. As soon as he returned to the village on a motorcycle, he heard the villagers talking about a plane falling nearby.
Mo Guangnan wanted to go to the scene to have a look. On the way to Mozong Village, he saw many rescuers from other places along the way. Since the accident site was located on the top of the hill in Mocong Village, Conan Town, the core site was facing mountains on three sides, and there was only a narrow path to enter. Some rescuers rushed to the rescue site on motorcycles, while more people took rescue equipment. Go on foot. Seeing this scene, Mo Guangnan immediately joined the motorcycle convoy that transported the rescuers.
Mo Chaonan, a villager volunteer who was on duty for several days at the Party and Mass Service Center in Mocong Village, Conan Township, had bloodshot eyes, rain boots and trouser legs wrapped in thick silt. After learning of the crash on the afternoon of March 21, the 57-year-old villager immediately quit his job and was the first to sign up for volunteer services. He rode a motorcycle to the periphery of the core rescue site to deliver bread, mineral water, eight-treasure porridge, umbrellas, rain boots, and awnings. He worked until 3:30 in the morning the next day. After only resting for more than 4 hours, he appeared at the volunteer service site again at 8:00 in the morning.
Mo Chaonan also mobilized his wife and children to come from Wuzhou City, Teng County and Lingjing Town respectively to help transport supplies and do logistical work. All five members of the family participated in the volunteer service work.
According to statistics, from March 21, more than 30 villager volunteers have assisted in the rescue and logistics work at the Party and Mass Service Center in Mozong Village every day. At present, there are more than 80 motorcycles and a volunteer service team composed of more than 100 villagers. Under the arrangement of the emergency headquarters, they are divided into morning shifts and evening shifts to provide uninterrupted volunteer services. Among them are young adults and elderly people in their sixties and seventies.
At noon on March 22, Huang Jianyi, an 80-year-old villager from Yatang Group, Siwang Village, Tengzhou Town, Teng County, was plowing in the spring when he found a suspected plane about 1.3 meters long and 10 centimeters wide in the field behind his house. Debris fragments. After hearing relatives talk about the crash, he immediately called the police. Because the villagers took the initiative to report this clue in a timely manner, in the following days, many towns and towns in Teng County issued a centralized notice to search for the wreckage of the plane, eyewitnesses and video materials related to the accident, and further collect evidence for the accident investigation.
Local people participated in the rescue work through various channels. Lao Gaojin, deputy mayor of Wuzhou City and director of the Public Security Bureau, said that since the rescue work began, many caring businesses and enthusiastic enterprises have donated canopies, raincoats, quilts and other items , some nearby restaurants will provide hot meals, milk, bread and other food to the frontline rescuers. “This fully proves that the disaster is ruthless, there is love in the world, and the hearts of the local people and the families of the missing passengers are always together.”