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The pilot of the ill-fated China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 twice attempted to land before crashing at Shenzhen's Huangtian airport, killing 35 people, it was claimed yesterday.

 Passengers and a mainland aviation official said driving rain had caused two landings to be aborted before the plane crashed in flames on the third attempt.

 'The plane went around twice after unsuccessful attempts to land,' the official said.

 'On the third landing attempt the pilot could not pull up and the plane crashed. The attitude of the plane was wrong.'  One passenger said he heard cracking after the first aborted landing.

 Chinese businessman Li Bo-yin, 59, said: 'The floor below my seat began buckling and I heard a cracking noise of metal when the plane pulled up after the first attempt.'  As officials from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the Civil Aviation Administration of China headed for Shenzhen, crash investigators confirmed they had found the plane's black box flight recorder.

 However, the precise cause of Thursday's tragedy remained a mystery last night.

 China Southern Airlines Flight CZ3456 had flown to Shenzhen from Chongqing in Sichuan province.

 It veered off the runway, broke into three large pieces and burst into flames as it crashed during a severe thunderstorm, officials said. Witnesses said the plane's tail hit the runway first.

 Some passengers were able to free themselves and escape the fire. Others became trapped in the middle section which was turned into a wreck of twisted metal.

 Officials said 33 passengers and two crew died in the crash. Thirty-five of the 65 passengers and nine crew survived. However, four passengers had not been accounted for.

 Nine of the injured were in serious condition in Shenzhen hospitals, officials said, while the other 26 suffered superficial injuries.

 One Hong Kong man was among the dead. At least two other territory residents were injured.

 The dead man was travelling on a home-return permit under the name of Kwok Shuidin, according to Jiang Xubing, spokesman for China Southern Airlines.

 Twenty-one of the dead were from a Thai tour group, officials said. The identity of most of the victims remained unclear.

 It is believed most survivors were in the front part of the plane. Mr Jiang said the Thai group was in the centre section which was almost totally destroyed.

 Shenzhen municipal government spokesman Li Xiaogan said it was not yet possible to identify the dead.

 He said: 'Our figures are based on reports from the Public Health Bureau. We know five Thai nationals, aged between 30 and 62, are being treated at hospitals.

 'The nationalities of the dead are still being verified.

 'It is a difficult job as most of the bodies were badly damaged in the crash and most of their travel documents burned by the fire.'  Identification has been hampered by the missing passengers, who are believed to have struggled from the wreckage and left the scene. 'We heard that some passengers were unscathed and just walked home,' said Mr Li.

 'We are still trying to single out who they are. We are still working out just who is alive and who is dead.'  The airliner's co-pilot was among those killed, another official said. The pilot's fate was unknown.

 A Boeing spokesman said it had sent a team to the crash scene, though information had, so far, proved hard to obtain. 'It's pretty chaotic out there,' he said.

 Mainland foreign affairs official Shen Wei confirmed an investigation was underway.

 'The aircraft's black box has been located and taken away for investigation but the reason for the crash is still not clear,' he said.



Shenzhen air crash probe begins as black box found