Plane crash found, 3 pilots dead

Information reported to the command post located at the People's Committee of Chau Pha commune said that the plane had been found crashed in a ravine near Kim Lien peak of Dinh mountain. The fuselage and tail of the plane were severed; all 3 pilots were dead.

At around 11:30 this morning (October 19), the wreckage of the EC130-T2 helicopter was found in the Bao Quan area, Dinh Mountain. From this location, Kim Lien Pagoda is the closest place to approach the wreckage. Currently, the Ministry of National Defense has sealed off the scene for the authorities to deploy the next steps.

The plane crashed at Bao Quan Mountain, 500 meters above sea level, in Chau Pha Commune, Tan Thanh District, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. Information from the scene said that the 3 pilots on the plane were thrown in three directions and died. The plane was badly deformed.

Three pilots on a military plane crashed in Vung Tau. From left to right: Captain Duong Le Minh, Lieutenant Nguyen Van Tung and pilot Lieutenant Dang Dinh Duy.

The search and rescue operation for the EC 130 helicopter that crashed in Vung Tau officially began early this morning (October 19). Forces including police, border guards, and soldiers divided into small groups (5 people/group) to go into the mountains to search for the missing plane.

The touching story about the family of Captain Duong Le Minh, a flight instructor at the Flight Training Center (Vietnam Helicopter Corporation), was shared in Khanh Hoa newspaper: His family will never forget April 29, 2005. That was the day his father, Lieutenant Colonel Duong Van Thanh, former Deputy Commander of Regiment 910, Hero of the People's Armed Forces, passed away while on a flight training mission.

Captain Minh recalled: “At that time, I was also a pilot student at the Air Force Officer School. Hearing the news that my father had died while on duty, the whole family was devastated. At that time, my mother did not want me to follow in my father’s footsteps as a pilot. However, the image of my father, a pilot who was willing to sacrifice his life to protect the peace of the Fatherland, became the motivation and pride for me to strive to become a pilot.”

According to VOV