Investigators are trying to determine why a Chinese airline plane crashed

Investigators¹ are trying to determine why a Chinese airline plane crashed

　　Transcript²

　　A China Eastern Airlines plane with 132 passengers and crew aboard crashed on Monday west of Hong Kong. Authorities don't yet know why the Boeing 737 went down.

　　A MARTINEZ, HOST:

　　The search is on for the black boxes that could help explain why a Boeing 737 took a sharp dive, crashing into mountains in China yesterday. A hundred and thirty-two people were on board. There are no reports of survivors³. The plane went down in a remote area that's only accessible by walking or on a motorcycle. With us is NPR's Beijing correspondent Emily Feng. Emily, what are we learning so far about this crash?

　　EMILY FENG, BYLINE⁴: People have been closely analyzing⁵ the public flight radar⁶ data for the plane, which shows that it took off as scheduled from the southwestern city of Kunming, then flew east towards the port city of Guangzhou, its destination. But instead, it ended up in a fireball on the side of a mountain in Guangxi province. The data shows that the plane very quickly lost altitude. It plunged⁷ from - it plunged 26,000 feet in just over 90 seconds, which meant that it kind of vertically⁸ fell out of the sky per eyewitness⁹ accounts who were near the site at the time. And then it hit the side of the mountain and exploded.

　　MARTINEZ: Any clue at all about why this plane went down?

　　FENG: As you mentioned, authorities are still searching for the black boxes on board. Unfortunately, because it was such a high-impact collision, the plane disintegrated¹⁰ on impact. And so these boxes could have been flung somewhere in the Guangxi jungle. What people are looking at right now is the make of the plane, as well. It's a Boeing 737. It was not very old - just under 7 years old. But Boeing, the company, last year paid a $2.5 billion fine for covering up some glitchy software control that might - maybe had caused two previous crashes on a Boeing 737 MAX a few years earlier. This crash in China does not seem similar, however, because unlike the other two incidents where the pilots were fighting for control over the entire time and flight data showed that the altitudes of these planes was fluctuating, the flight radar data here shows the plane first descended¹¹ rapidly, pulled up just a little bit and then shot straight down again, hitting the ground straight on, like a missile.

　　MARTINEZ: How are Chinese authorities going forward with an investigation¹²?

　　FENG: Well, China's leader, Xi Jinping, has ordered an all-out investigation and a search and rescue team. People here are really shocked because crashes like this are very rare. The last one was in 2010. About three-quarters of all domestic flights today in China were canceled, and the investigation, people are warning, could take months. So we have a long wait to figure out what actually happened.

　　MARTINEZ: We mentioned a hundred and thirty-two people were on that flight. Do we know anything about those people that were there?

　　FENG: Some of their stories are already starting to emerge. There were children on board, people's parents and friends. One of the passenger was a fiance who was returning back to work after visiting his future wife, who was living in Kunming where the flight took off. They were just about to hold their wedding soon. Another passenger was a 16-year-old girl who was flying to Guangzhou because she's applying for a British visa to study in the United Kingdom. The airline regulator here did say there was one person who did not make the flight because they didn't have some of the health paperwork they needed to board, and that person must be feeling very, very lucky today. But again, people are still searching for answers, and people are looking at video now of that very, very sharp descent from 29,000 feet, down to that mountainside in Guangxi because the angle has been very, very strange.

　　MARTINEZ: NPR's Emily Feng in Beijing. Thank you.

　　FENG: Thanks, A.

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

9 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

10 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。