The body of the missing pilot on board of fighter jet SU30-MK2 that went down during a training session was found on June 17 and brought ashore on June 18.

The body of Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai was found at around 6:00 pm on June 17 by a local fisherman, Dang Van Kinh, near Hon Mat, an islet 40 nautical miles off the coast of central Nghe An province.

At 5:00 am of June 18, the provincial coastguard brought the body ashore where more than 150 naval officers and hundreds of people, including Khai’s family members and comrades, and local residents, have gathered since early morning to wait for the late pilot.

His formal funeral will take place later at the Funeral House of the 4th Military Zone in Nghe An.

Khai was among two pilots on board of the Russian-made fighter jet that disappeared from radar on June 14. The other, Major Nguyen Huu Cuong, was rescued by other local fishermen at 5:00 am of June 15.

A CASA212 aircraft with 9 crewmembers aboard on a mission of searching for the jet and Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai also lost contact at 12:30 pm on June 16.

After passing Bach Long Vy island district in the Tonkin Gulf by 44 nautical miles, the plane asked for permission to descend but communication was then cut.

Debris of the CASA212 has been discovered to the southwest of Bach Long Vy island near the delimitation line on the Tonkin Gulf.

Sympathies sent over missing people in aircraft accidents

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has offered sympathies to relatives of the officers and soldiers who went missing in the recent accidents of a jet fighter and a rescue aircraft.

In the latest official order, the Government leader also encouraged search and rescue forces to weather difficulties to perform their duties.

He continued to urge for all forces, including the Air Defence – Air Force Service, the navy, coast guards, border guards and fisheries resources surveillance, to be deployed to search for the missing people and the aircraft.

The authorities of the coastal provinces from Quang Ninh to Ha Tinh have to work with the national committee for search and rescue and relevant sides to call for the fishermen’s participation in the search.

He also asked for drastic efforts to be taken by the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Information and Communications to find the missing people soon.

The Su30 MK2 aircraft with two pilots went missing at 6:50 am of June 14 during a training session in the area of Hon Mat Island, about 40km off the coast of the central province of Nghe An’s Vinh city. One pilot has been rescued by fishing boats and brought ashore safely.

On June 16, the CASA 212 with nine crewmembers on board was dispatched after rescue units received a help signal believed to be from Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai, who is the remaining missing pilot on the Su30 MK2 plane.

After passing Bach Long Vy island district in the Tonkin Gulf by 44 nautical miles, the plane asked for permission to descend but contact was then cut.

Several pieces of debris and objects were found 20 nautical miles south-southeast of Bach Long Vy island and three nautical miles to the delimitation line on the Tonkin Gulf. They have been determined as belonging to the CASA 212.

Vietnam sends 760 people to look for 2 missing planes, 9 military personnel

As of June 18, more than 750 military personnel have been dispatched to search for a coast guard aircraft that disappeared during a search mission for the missing pilot of a

Besides 764 military officers and soldiers, 49 boats of all kinds and numerous equipment pieces are being used for the search and rescue efforts for the missing CASA-212 aircraft, according to the office of the National Committee for Search and Rescue.

CASA-212 had been dispatched to search for Su-30MK2, a Vietnam People’s Air Force’s fighter jet that crashed during a training session on June 14 morning, but ended up becoming a target of another search mission.

The Spanish-made aircraft, carrying nine members of the search crew and captained by Colonel Le Kiem Toan, lost contact at around 12:30 pm that day while flying 44 nautical miles southwest of Bach Long Vi Island off the northern city of Haiphong.

Both pilots of the Su-30MK2 died from the crash, with their bodies already retrieved and taken ashore for burial.

Some pieces of debris believed to be of the CASA-212 have also been found, whereas the fate of its nine-member crew remains unknown.

Three vessels of the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center are scouring the sea north of Bach Long Vi to look for the CASA-212, whereas vessels of the military units of Haiphong and the neighboring province of Quang Ninh are searching in the area southwest of the island.

The Vietnamese coast guard also dispatched its CSB 4039 ship, carrying 27 officers from the air and navy forces, as well as civil aviation, to join the search effort for the CASA-212.

The administrations of the coastal provinces from Quang Ninh to Ninh Binh have also notified local fishermen to pay attention to the waters where they are fishing.

China have also joined the search with two search and rescue boats, two coast guard vessels, four naval ships, and two helicopters, all of which are now scouring the sea southeast of Bach Long Vi.

As of the end of June 18, no positive results were recorded from the search missions.

In the meantime, three vessels are still searching for the wreckage of the Su30-MK2 in the waters east of Mat Island, off the north-central province of Nghe An, where the fighter jet crashed, but have so far found nothing.

Search for Vietnamese missing aircraft and pilots faces adverse weather

Vietnam’s military and civil forces have met with big waves and other adverse weather conditions at sea while searching for the two missing aircraft and 9 military personnel.

“The search operations have been expanded to almost the entire area of the Gulf of Tonkin. Currently we have not found anything new,” Do Duc Hoa, Party Chief of Hai Phong City’s Bach Long Vy District said on June 18 morning.

The Third Military Region, the People’s Navy, the Border Guard, Coast Guard, and fishing boats have been mobilized in the search and rescue efforts. They are determined to search the area again and again, and will work urgently but carefully.

“Everyone wants to have results early but the search zone is large while the weather at sea is very complicated. The history of airplane accidents in the world shows that it is not easy to find missing planes in adverse weather conditions at sea in one or two days,” a source from the Ministry of National Defense said.

On June 14, Vietnam's fighter jet Su-30MK2 crashed offshore the central province of Nghe An. The jet had two pilots on board, one of whom, Major Nguyen Huu Cuong, was rescued but the other, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai, 43, was found dead at sea and has been brought ashore. The CASA-212-40 with nine people on board went missing on June 16 while searching for the Su-30MK2.

The search and rescue team have recovered in the Gulf of Tonkin debris belonging to the CASA-212 plane which crashed on June 16 while searching for the missing Su-30 fighter pilot Tran Quang Khai.

China has deployed the NANHAIJIU 101 rescue ship to help with the search.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has said from the Steering Committee for Search and Rescue of the CASA plane in Hai Phong: "We have to find the crew members at all costs."

China deploys 8 vessels, 2 helicopters to search for Vietnam’s missing plane

China has sent eight ships and two helicopters to help Vietnam find a CASA coast guard plane that crashed with nine people aboard while looking for the missing Su-30 fighter jet and pilot.

The Chinese forces are searching on China's territory, south east of Vietnam’s Bach Long Vy Island and east of the delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam and China.

China has already deployed a big rescue ship, the NANHAIJIU 101, to help with the search.

A black rubber mat, about two square meters wide and one centimeter thick, has been recovered by a Vietnamese defense ship on Saturday. 49 vessels and other special devices with more than 750 Vietnamese people were searching near Haiphong’s Bach Long Vy Island, according to the Office of the Steering Committee for Search and Rescue.

On June 14, Vietnam's fighter jet Su-30MK2 crashed offshore the central province of Nghe An. The jet had two pilots on board, one of whom, Major Nguyen Huu Cuong, was rescued but the other, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai, 43, was found dead at sea and has been brought ashore. The CASA-212-40 with 9 people on it went missing on June 16 while searching for the Su-30MK2.

Vietnam’s Third Military Region, the People’s Navy, the Border Guard, Coard Guard, and fishing boats have been mobilized in the search and rescue efforts.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has said from the Steering Committee for Search and Rescue of the CASA plane in Haiphong: "We have to find the crew members at all costs."

VNA/Tuoitre/VOV