The Chinese mainland yesterday gave Taiwan authorities its radar
data and written records relating to the May 25 crash of a Hong
Kong-bound China Airlines jet.
Wang Suh-yun -- deputy director of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits
Economic and Trade Association -- said: "This data will be sent to
experts as soon as possible in order to help determine the real
cause for the crash."
Wang arrived at Beijing International Airport yesterday afternoon
to receive the data. She returned to Taiwan later yesterday via
Hong Kong.
Mu
Ming-chu, a Taiwan "legislator" who accompanied Wang, said that the
Taiwan side was very grateful for the mainland's assistance. She
said he hoped that the mainland people and government departments
could continue to help the search for victims of the plane
crash.
Liu Yajun -- deputy director of the Air-Traffic Management Bureau
of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China -- said
the mainland is willing to exert the utmost effort in helping the
rescue work and investigation.
The Cross-Straits Economic and Trade Association last Thursday
wrote to the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan
Straits (ARATS) and requested radar and satellite data to use in
its investigation of the crash.
Relevant departments on the mainland -- including the Air-traffic
management department in Xiamen and experts from Sichuan University
-- collected radar data and written analyses the next day after
receiving the request.
According to Liu, the mainland's radar data records the speed,
altitude and other relevant data about Flight CI-611 from 07:13 and
17 seconds to 07:28 and 21 seconds GMT.
The plane was more than 9,000 meters in the air, and only less than
1 percent of the wreckage has so far been retrieved.
The Taiwan side said that information recorded near sea-level is
needed to better track the fall of the debris and locate the
wreckage.
Since May 25, the relevant mainland departments have worked hard to
help the Taiwanese authorities in various ways.
Mainland fishing boats have helped retrieve 10 bodies. Two other
mainland fishing boats recovered 22 pieces of wreckage from the
plane.
(China
Daily June 3, 2002)
