英语新闻丨基本确定坠机事故主要撞击点

基本确定坠机事故主要撞击点|Debris, some remains found in center of crash site

The main impact point where the China Eastern Airlines jet crashed on Monday in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was identified and the search area was further enlarged amid heavy rain and landslides on Thursday.

3月24日，在广西壮族自治区发生的“3·21”东航MU5735航空器飞行事故的主要撞击点已经基本确定。在暴雨和山体滑坡的环境下，搜寻范围在进一步扩大。

Most of the debris from the aircraft is scattered in the core area, a 30-meter radius around the main point of impact, Zhu Tao, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's aviation safety office, said at a news conference in Wuzhou, Guangxi, on Thursday afternoon.

3月24日下午，民航局航安办主任朱涛在广西梧州举行的新闻发布会上表示，飞机大部分残骸集中在主要撞击点周围半径30米左右的核心区域内。

"Some of the debris was about 20 meters underground. The search and rescue teams have recovered parts of the engine blades, horizontal tail and wings. Also recovered was debris from the cockpit, including crew manuals and identity cards and a rope for the crew to escape from the cockpit in an emergency," Zhu said.

朱涛表示，“（残骸）深度从地表向下延伸大约至20米左右。已经找到的主要残骸包括：发动机部叶片及涡轮残件、发动机吊架残件、左右侧水平尾翼残件、副翼自动驾驶作动器以及带有部分翼梢小翼的机翼残件。还发现了驾驶舱内的机组逃生绳和机组手册残片以及部分机组证件。”

Flight MU5735 left Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, at 1:11 pm Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, at 3:05 pm. Air traffic controllers lost track of the plane over Wuzhou at 2:21 pm.

MU5735航班原计划于3月21日下午13点10分从昆明长水机场起飞，15点05分到达广州白云机场。但飞机于下午14点20分左右同地面失去联系。。

Zheng Xi, head of the Guangxi Fire and Rescue Brigade, said the search area on Thursday was about 1.5 times that of Wednesday. "By 4 pm, we had found 21 items of passengers' belongings and 183 pieces of aircraft debris. Also, some victims' remains were found."

广西消防救援总队总队长郑西说，预计24日搜寻范围会比前一日扩大1.5倍。“截至16时，搜救人员共搜寻到遇难者遗物21件、飞机残骸183份和部分遇难者遗体残骸。”

Zheng added that a piece of what is thought to be aircraft debris was also found 10 kilometers from the main crash site near the village of Molang, Tengxian county.

郑西补充道，搜救人员在梧州市藤县藤州镇四旺村鸦塘组一农田发现一个疑似飞机残骸碎片，离事故核心现场约有10公里。

Heavy rain hampered the search for a second straight day, but the searchers continued to use life sensors and metal detectors to comb through the heavily forested, steep slopes amid occasional small landslides, Zheng said.

郑西说，大雨连续两天阻碍了搜寻工作，但搜寻人员仍在使用生命传感器和金属探测器，在覆满植被的陡峭山坡上搜寻，偶尔还会面临小型山体滑坡。

Meanwhile, Chinese investigators are working on decoding the information in the cockpit voice recorder, which was found at the crash site on Wednesday. They hope it will shed a light on the cause of the crash, which civil aviation accident experts have described as of a "rarely seen" nature, Zhu said.

与此同时，调查人员正在对3月23日在坠机现场发现的第一个黑匣子——驾驶舱语音记录器进行信息解码。朱涛表示，他们希望这份报告能揭示出飞机失事的原因，民航事故专家称这是一起极为罕见的空中撞机事件。

According to flight data, the aircraft was cruising in good weather conditions and suddenly began dropping sharply at high speed.

飞行数据显示，飞机在良好的天气条件下巡航，突然开始急剧下坠。

In accordance with international agreements, Zhu said, the CAAC has shared the basic crash information with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the US National Transportation Safety Board, the investigative authority of the country where the aircraft was manufactured.

朱涛表示，事件发生后，中国民航根据国际民用航空公约相关要求，将事故信息通报发了国际民航组织及航空器设计制造国的调查机构，美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）。

"Our key task now is still to conduct search and rescue operations and collect evidence for a preliminary investigation. We will invite relevant parties to join us when the case enters the stage of accident investigation, in accordance with international agreements," Zhu said.

朱涛说：“当前阶段工作重点仍在搜寻救援，同时开展事故调查前期的证据收集工作，待进入事故调查阶段后，我们将按照有关规定邀请需要参与的相关方参加事故调查工作。”

Information that China Eastern had made repairs on the "pickle forks"－which connect the wings and fuselage－of its Boeing 737-800 fleet has raised questions.

有消息称，东航曾开展自主维修737-800连接机翼和机身的部件“pickle fork”（拨叉），并猜测这与事故有关，这引发了人们的质疑。

The 737-800 is part of Boeing's 737 NG(Next Generation) series. In late 2019, that series made global headlines when the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered dozens of Boeing 737s that had seen heavy use to undergo safety inspections because of cracking in the "pickle fork".

波音737-800属于737NG系列客机。2019年末，美国联邦航空管理局下令对数十架机型较老的波音737飞机进行安全检查，原因是“拨叉”部件出现裂缝。

Liu Xiaodong, head of the airlines' publicity department said the suspicion is unfounded because the aircraft wasn't due for "pickle fork" repairs.

东航宣传部部长刘晓东表示，这种怀疑是没有根据的，因为这架飞机没有经历过“拨叉”部件的检修。

"The 6.8-year-old aircraft doesn't meet the requirement for 'pickle fork' repairs, which are required after 22,600 takeoffs and landings, so it isn't an issue," Liu said.

刘晓东表示：“本次事故中的B1791号飞机，机龄仅6.8年，共计飞行8986架次，没有达到机型适航指令标准中“拨叉”部件最严格的检修标准——22600个飞行起落。失事飞机不涉及该部件检修问题。”

debris

英 [ˈdebriː,ˈdeɪbriː]；美 [dəˈbriː]

n.（被毁物的）残骸;碎片;垃圾

cockpit

英[ˈkɒkpɪt]；美[ˈkɑːkpɪt]

n.驾驶舱，驾驶座

brigade

英[brɪˈɡeɪd]；美[brɪˈɡeɪd]

n. 旅;一帮人，族

comb

英[kəʊm]；美[koʊm]

v.在(信息)中仔细搜寻

cruise

英[kruːz]；美[kruːz]

v. 巡航