The body of a military pilot, who went missing after his plane crashed in mid–April, was found on April 28 evening, the Rescue Operation Headquarter said.

The body of Deputy Commander of Regiment 937 Le Van Nghia was recovered along with parts of the fallen Su-22 jet, number 5857, in the waters off Phu Quy Island in the south central province of Binh Thuan, where the plane crashed on April 16.

Another pilot, Nguyen Anh Tu, along with his Su-22 jet number 5863, is still missing. Search efforts to locate the pilot and the plane are still ongoing.

The two Su-22 jets of Air Division 370 lost contact just a few hours after they took off from Thanh Son Military Airport in Binh Thuan for a training session.

The national defence ministry deployed forces to conduct an urgent search operation immediately, but the efforts were hampered by the huge waves in the sea for days.

VNA