No survivors found after China plane crash: Aviation authority

[WUZHOU] Chinese aviation authorities said on Tuesday they had found no survivors so far from a crashed China Eastern jet nearly 36 hours after it plunged into a mountainside with 132 people on board.

"Up to now, search and rescue work has not found any survivors," Zhu Tao, director of the aviation safety office at China's aviation authority told reporters in the first official comments on the likelihood all of the passengers dying in the air disaster.

All 123 passengers and nine crew are presumed dead, which would make it China's first fatal commercial airliner crash since 2010 and the deadliest in nearly three decades.

Pilots of China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 failed to respond to multiple calls from Chinese air-traffic controllers after tipping into a deadly nosedive, authorities said at a press conference.

Investigators are sifting through evidence to understand why the Boeing Co. 737-800 NG plane crashed in southern China on Monday. It's too early to draw any clear judgments about the cause, a Chinese air-safety official said at a press conference late Tuesday.

The dive by the jet from about 8,840 meters is baffling air-crash specialists. Boeing has offered to help China's investigation. China Eastern grounded its fleet of 737-800s, and thousands of domestic flights were cancelled Tuesday across the nation. Chinese officials ordered a sweeping two-week safety review. AFP,BLOOMBERG