South China Morning Post, "China Eastern Airlines crash families may wait years for result in lawsuit"

         China Eastern Airlines flight MU5210 to Shanghai burst into flames less than a minute after takeoff from Baotou on November 21 last year and plunged into a frozen lake, claiming the lives of all 47 passengers and six crew on board, along with two people on the ground.
          The US-based law firm representing the families, Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein, LLP, lodged the suit in California last week against mainland carrier China Eastern Airlines, US-based engine producer General Electric and Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. In Beijing yesterday, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Nelson, said the crash might have been caused by the plane'scontroversial design, the engine's inability to withstand ice and the carrier's failure to request ice removal before takeoff.
          "The CRJ200 hard wing is unforgiving and may have combined with negligence by China Eastern pilots to cause the crash," Mr Nelson said. "We have hired investigation companies. But the problem is they haven't had any access to the plane, which is frustrating."