US panel arrives in China to assist with plane crash probe

BEIJING - A working group sent by the US National Transportation Safety Board arrived in China on Saturday to help investigate last month's crash of a China Eastern Airlines aircraft, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The seven-member panel, consisting of authorized representatives and technical advisors, will participate in the investigation organized by the CAAC.

The group's main responsibility is to provide technical support in investigating and analyzing the cause of the accident from the perspective of aircraft design and manufacture.

The Boeing 737 aircraft, which departed from Kunming in Yunnan province for Guangzhou in Guangdong province, crashed in Tengxian County of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on March 21. All 132 people on board were killed.