One of two 'black box' recorders discovered from crashed plane

One of two "black box" flight recorders for the recently crashed China Eastern Airlines passenger jet was found on Wednesday, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The jet had two flight recorders, both products of United States company Honeywell. One device records flight data, such as height, speed and direction, and the other records voices in the cockpit, Mao Yanfeng, director of the civil aviation accident investigation center, said at a news conference on Wednesday. Both recorders are orange and easy to discover.

However, the investigation team was unable to identify which recorder was found at this stage because its exterior was seriously damaged.

"The accident was rarely seen because the jet plunged at a cruising phase in a short time," Mao said, adding the investigation team is making every effort to find the other recorder. "Once both recorders are found and sent to the lab for analysis, we will be able to know more about the cause of the accident."

According to data from global flight tracking service flightradar24, the plane, a Boeing 737-800, reached a cruising altitude of nearly 9,000 meters shortly after departing from Kunming, Yunnan province at 1:11 pm on Monday. It plunged nearly 8,000 meters in 3 minutes at 2:19 pm and crashed into a mountain in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

No survivors have yet been found.