Beijing has offered radar data to help Taipei piece together the last moments of a jumbo jet that ploughed into the Taiwan Strait with 225 people on board, officials said yesterday.
Mu Ming-chu (
"Officials from the Civil Aviation General Administration of China will deliver the desired radar data at Beijing airport," an official with the Cross-strait Economic and Trade Association (CETA), said early Sunday.
The television reported that Liu Yajun, a Chinese aviation official, told reporters in Beijing the radar data contained the ill-fated plane's altitude and the direction of the flight at the last moments.
"The reading from the radar screen indicated the plane flying up twice and down once ... in the last eight seconds," Liu said.
But he said he was not sure if China has satellite records documenting the air tragedy.
The aircraft disintegrated in mid-flight and plunged into the sea about 20 minutes after takeoff on a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong.
No survivors have been found from the crash. So far some 102 bodies have been retrieved from the sea.
"Officials from Civil Aviation General Administration of China will deliver the desirable radar data at Beijing airport," an official with the Cross-strait Economic and Trade Association, said.
The Straits Exchange Foundation, the body authorized by Taiwan's government to handle civil exchanges with China in the absence of official contacts, also sought similar help earlier this week, but received no response from Beijing.
Beijing has shut down its authorized communications channel with Taipei saying it would not be reopened until Taiwan authorities recognize the "one China principle," deeming Taiwan as part of Chinese territory.
On Wednesday Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) director, Kay Yong, (
Yong said Taiwan's radar data showed the plane was cruising above 9,160m when it ripped apart.
ASC has launched an investigation with the help of a US group that includes four members from the National Transportation Safety Bureau, two from the Federal Aviation Administration, three from Boeing Company and one from the engine-manufacturer Pratt and Whitney.
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