On the morning of November 6, a Yak-130 training aircraft (serial number 210D) from the 940th Air Regiment, Air Force Academy, encountered an accident in Binh Dinh Province.

The plane was piloted by Colonel Nguyen Van Son, the regiment commander (front cockpit), and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hong Quan, chief flight instructor (rear cockpit). Both pilots ejected at 10:51 AM when the aircraft malfunctioned.

Recent updates confirm that search and rescue teams have successfully located and rescued Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hong Quan and identified the position of Colonel Nguyen Van Son using mobile signal tracking.

Viettel, the telecom provider, told VietNamNet that after receiving an alert from the Binh Dinh Provincial Chairman, they reviewed the mobile data of the two pilots and identified a potential area where they might have ejected. The mountainous terrain posed challenges in pinpointing specific cell towers.

“To cover the potential ejection area, we adjusted the orientation and tilt of antennae, maximized transmission power, and utilized low-band solutions to improve signal coverage,” a Viettel representative explained.

By 4:30 PM, the search team made initial contact with the first pilot, enabling them to establish coordinates and commence a targeted search. At 7:56 PM, they successfully rescued Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hong Quan.

Further adjustments were made to expand the network coverage, and by 6:37 PM, the rescue team established contact with Colonel Nguyen Van Son, instructing him to send his coordinates to the command center.

By 10:00 PM on November 6, search teams located Colonel Son, approximately 1 km from Lieutenant Colonel Quan’s position. Both pilots were found in stable condition.

Background of the incident  

On November 6, the 940th Air Regiment under the Air Defense-Air Force Service organized a training session with the Yak-130 aircraft (tail number 210D) at Phu Cat Airport. The exercise, Flight Mission 208, involved long-range maneuvers, airspace navigation, and cloud penetration under complex weather conditions, with Colonel Nguyen Van Son piloting from the front cockpit and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hong Quan in the rear cockpit.

The aircraft took off at 9:55 AM, and by 10:38 AM, as they were preparing to land, the pilots reported a landing gear malfunction. Despite attempts to deploy the gear manually, the issue persisted.

Following communications with flight command, the pilots were authorized to eject. Both pilots ejected at 10:51 AM in the vicinity of the TB2 Firing Range in Tay Son, Binh Dinh.

Trong Dat - Ho Giap