The US&nbsp;National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the&nbsp;download&nbsp;of the cockpit&nbsp;voice&nbsp;recorder in Washington from an&nbsp;China&nbsp;Eastern Airlines&nbsp;Boeing&nbsp;737-800&nbsp;jet&nbsp;as it sent a team of investigators to&nbsp;China.

The US&nbsp;safety board told Reuters it was helping the Civil Aviation Administration of&nbsp;China&nbsp;"with the&nbsp;download&nbsp;of the cockpit&nbsp;voice&nbsp;recorder from&nbsp;China&nbsp;Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington."

China's decision to send a key piece of evidence to Washington for assistance shows the urgency of the investigation at a time when two nations have been at odds at other issues.

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The plane&nbsp;crashed&nbsp;into a mountainside in southern&nbsp;China&nbsp;on March 21 killing all 132 on board and was mainland&nbsp;China's deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years. Recovery crews on Sunday found the second black box - the flight data&nbsp;recorder - in the wreckage.

The cockpit&nbsp;voice&nbsp;recorder will likely provide investigators with details of communications between the flight's three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board the&nbsp;Boeing&nbsp;plane.

Earlier Friday, the&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;said a team of three investigators had left for&nbsp;China&nbsp;to assist in the crash probe. The&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;said "investigators will limit interactions with those outside of investigation similar to safety protocols at Beijing Olympics, which will allow them to begin work immediately without a quarantine."

The team includes the US&nbsp;accredited representative Sathya Silva, who is an&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;senior aviation accident investigator.

An&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;spokesman said the US&nbsp;team was traveling on a commercial flight. It was not clear if the team will travel to the crash site in&nbsp;China&nbsp;and for how the long team will be in&nbsp;China&nbsp;but it could be several weeks.

The&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;also said a small team from&nbsp;Boeing&nbsp;is also traveling&nbsp;China&nbsp;to assist in the investigation.

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CAAC News, a publication under the Chinese aviation regulator, said on Saturday that the&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;group of seven investigators and technical advisers had arrived in&nbsp;China.

Under an international agreement, the&nbsp;NTSB&nbsp;has the right to participate since the plane was designed and built in the United States.

On Thursday, Chinese state media said the cause of the crash must be determined as soon as possible, following a meeting of&nbsp;China's highest decision-making body helmed by President Xi Jinping.

Information about the crash must be released in an open, timely and transparent manner, state media said in a report on the meeting of the seven-person Standing Committee of the Communist Party's politburo,&nbsp;China's top leadership.

A nationwide safety inspection should also be launched to prevent as much as possible the occurrence of safety accidents, state media said. If accidents do happen due to negligence, not only will the personnel in charge be punished, the relevant top officials will also be investigated, state media said.

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<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/political-uncertainties-might-affect-us-pakistan-diplomatic-ties-467648/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from an China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of investigators to China.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from an China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of investigators to China. The US safety board told Reuters it was helping the Civil Aviation Administration of China "with the download of the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington." China's decision to send a key piece of evidence to Washington for assistance shows the urgency of the investigation at a time when two nations have been at odds at other issues. Also read | Reggae singer Eddy Grant stumps Trump, former US president may face court The plane crashed into a mountainside in southern China on March 21 killing all 132 on board and was mainland China's deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years. Recovery crews on Sunday found the second black box - the flight data recorder - in the wreckage. The cockpit voice recorder will likely provide investigators with details of communications between the flight's three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board the Boeing plane. Earlier Friday, the NTSB said a team of three investigators had left for China to assist in the crash probe. The NTSB said "investigators will limit interactions with those outside of investigation similar to safety protocols at Beijing Olympics, which will allow them to begin work immediately without a quarantine." The team includes the US accredited representative Sathya Silva, who is an NTSB senior aviation accident investigator. An NTSB spokesman said the US team was traveling on a commercial flight. It was not clear if the team will travel to the crash site in China and for how the long team will be in China but it could be several weeks. The NTSB also said a small team from Boeing is also traveling China to assist in the investigation. Also read | ‘Maple syrup heist’ thief needs to pay victims US $7 mn or serve 6 more years in Canadian jail CAAC News, a publication under the Chinese aviation regulator, said on Saturday that the NTSB group of seven investigators and technical advisers had arrived in China. Under an international agreement, the NTSB has the right to participate since the plane was designed and built in the United States. On Thursday, Chinese state media said the cause of the crash must be determined as soon as possible, following a meeting of China's highest decision-making body helmed by President Xi Jinping. Information about the crash must be released in an open, timely and transparent manner, state media said in a report on the meeting of the seven-person Standing Committee of the Communist Party's politburo, China's top leadership. A nationwide safety inspection should also be launched to prevent as much as possible the occurrence of safety accidents, state media said. If accidents do happen due to negligence, not only will the personnel in charge be punished, the relevant top officials will also be investigated, state media said. Watch | Political Uncertainties might affect US-Pakistan diplomatic ties

US NTSB helps China download voice record of crashed Boeing jet

How black boxes of crashed Chinese jet will be handled?

One of the two black boxes of the crashed Chinese passenger jet, with 132 passengers on board, has been recovered, an aviation official said Wednesday.

The Boeing 737-800 has two flight recorders—one in the rear passenger cabin tracking flight data, and the other a cockpit voice recorder.

A flight recorder "from China Eastern MU5735 was found on March 23," Liu Lusong, a spokesman for China's aviation authority, told reporters.

The cause of Monday's crash has yet to be determined. According to local media, the plane had been in service since 2015. The flight, operated by China Eastern Airlines, was flying from the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming to Guangzhou when it crashed.

Officials are yet to declare all of the passengers dead even as a two-day operation to search for clues found no survivors from what is being described as China's deadliest plane crash in nearly 30 years.

Video clips posted by China’s state media showed small pieces of the Boeing plane scattered over the rugged area. Officials have also recovered wallets, bank and identity cards.

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"At present, it is unclear whether it is a data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder," that has been found, Mao Yanfeng, an official at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said according to state media.

The probe officers have not yet made it official as to what caused the plane to crash an hour after departure.

An air-traffic controller tried to contact the pilots several times after seeing the plane’s altitude drop sharply, but got no reply, Zhu Tao, director of the Office of Aviation Safety at the Civil Aviation Authority of China, said at a Tuesday evening news conference.

“As of now, the rescue has yet to find survivors,’’ Zhu said. “The public security department has taken control of the site.’’

The Boeing 737-800 has been flying since 1998 and has a well-established safety record. It is an earlier model than the 737 Max, which was grounded worldwide for nearly two years after deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

(With inputs from agencies)

One of the two black boxes of the crashed Chinese passenger jet, with 132 passengers on board, has been recovered, an aviation official said Wednesday. The Boeing 737-800 has two flight recorders—one in the rear passenger cabin tracking flight data, and the other a cockpit voice recorder.

One of the two black boxes of the crashed Chinese passenger jet, with 132 passengers on board, has been recovered, an aviation official said Wednesday. The Boeing 737-800 has two flight recorders—one in the rear passenger cabin tracking flight data, and the other a cockpit voice recorder. A flight recorder "from China Eastern MU5735 was found on March 23," Liu Lusong, a spokesman for China's aviation authority, told reporters. The cause of Monday's crash has yet to be determined. According to local media, the plane had been in service since 2015. The flight, operated by China Eastern Airlines, was flying from the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming to Guangzhou when it crashed. Officials are yet to declare all of the passengers dead even as a two-day operation to search for clues found no survivors from what is being described as China's deadliest plane crash in nearly 30 years. Video clips posted by China’s state media showed small pieces of the Boeing plane scattered over the rugged area. Officials have also recovered wallets, bank and identity cards. Also see: Final moments of China plane caught on camera just before crash "At present, it is unclear whether it is a data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder," that has been found, Mao Yanfeng, an official at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said according to state media. The probe officers have not yet made it official as to what caused the plane to crash an hour after departure. An air-traffic controller tried to contact the pilots several times after seeing the plane’s altitude drop sharply, but got no reply, Zhu Tao, director of the Office of Aviation Safety at the Civil Aviation Authority of China, said at a Tuesday evening news conference. “As of now, the rescue has yet to find survivors,’’ Zhu said. “The public security department has taken control of the site.’’ The Boeing 737-800 has been flying since 1998 and has a well-established safety record. It is an earlier model than the 737 Max, which was grounded worldwide for nearly two years after deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. (With inputs from agencies)

One of two black boxes of crashed China Eastern passenger jet recovered: Aviation official