Search finds 49,000 pieces of plane in China Eastern crash

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese officials have said that the search for wreckage in last week’s crash of a China Eastern Boeing 737-800 is basically done and that more than 49,000 pieces of debris had been found. Flight MU5735 plunged from 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) into a mountainside in southern China’s Guangxi region, killing all 132 people on board. The impact created a 20-meter- (65-foot-) deep crater, set off a fire in the surrounding forest and smashed the plane into small parts scattered over a wide area, some of them buried underground. A Chinese aviation safety official said a preliminary investigation report would be completed within 30 days of the March 21 crash.