Crash investigation continues, but early information limited

The aircraft involved in a recent crash was destroyed, posing a challenge to investigations, an official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said at a news conference on Tuesday night.

A China Eastern Airlines aircraft carrying 132 people crashed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Monday.

No survivors were found so far, said Zhu Tao, director of the administration's safety office.

Search and rescue teams have been sent to the crash site.

According to Zhu, a full investigation has been carried out, including canvasing the scene, searching for the flight recorder and conducting a thorough investigation of maintenance, air traffic control, meteorology, aircraft design and manufacturing and other potential factors in the crash.

"Since the investigation has just started with limited information available, we are unable to have a clear judgement of the cause of the accident. The next step is to make all efforts to collect evidence, focusing on the on-site flight recorder and carrying out in-depth and comprehensive analysis," he added.

The aircraft involved in the tragedy is a 6.8-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet, which met airworthiness requirements prior to takeoff, said Sun Shiying, president of China Eastern Airlines Yunnan office.