More than 40 people disciplined after 4 military plane crashes

On the morning of November 9, at the discussion session of the Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation, under the direction of the Ministry of National Defense, Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang - Deputy Political Commissar of Military Region 7 presented some information about 4 military aircraft crashes in 2016.

Four serious military aircraft crashes in 2016 were reported by the Ministry of National Defense, including: SuMK2 aircraft crash, registration number 8585, in the waters of Nghe An on June 14; CASA 212 aircraft crash, registration number 8983, in the Gulf of Tonkin on June 16; L39 aircraft crash during a training flight in Phu Yen on August 26; and EC 130T2 helicopter crash, registration number VN T8632, on October 18 in Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang, authorized by the Ministry of National Defense, announced the causes of military aircraft accidents on the morning of November 9 - Photo: VIEN SU

Send black box abroad for inspection

Regarding the SU30MK2 aircraft crash with registration number 8585, Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang said the black box was broken. Currently, the recovered black box is being sent to Russia for examination but there are no results yet.

Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang also informed that when the incident occurred, the two pilots did not agree on a contract while parachuting. Although the black box was broken, they will try to find the cause.

The crash of CASA211 aircraft number 8983 crashed while searching for pilot Tran Quang Khai in the previous SuMK2 crash. During the flight, a strange object was discovered, so the pilot of CASA212 aircraft number 8983, Colonel Le Kiem Toan, decided to fly low.

Then the plane tilted suddenly, in bad weather, when tilted the plane hit the water and an accident occurred.

The main cause was determined to be due to limited visibility and the angle of inclination to the sea too close, the impact of the waves swept the plane away. The black box is currently being sent abroad for testing.

The L39 plane crash in Phu Yen, shortly after takeoff, the plane's engine failed and the pilot tried to steer away from the residential area and high-voltage power lines. Once out of this area, there was no chance of parachuting to survive.

Regarding the EC 130T2 helicopter crash with registration number VN T8632 at Dinh Mountain (Tan Thanh - Ba Ria Vung Tau), this was a training flight to familiarize the helicopter control system. Because this is a commercial aircraft, the military is currently working with the Vietnam Aviation Administration to find the cause but there are no results yet.

Disciplined more than 40 people

Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang said the number of sudden accidents in 2016 increased, causing serious losses to the Vietnam Air Force. The accidents that occurred were directed to be handled fully and seriously at all stages.

The Ministry of National Defense has directed to learn from experience, find out the cause from agencies, units, and schools, and has disciplined more than 40 comrades, including 2 general officers.

Assessing the initial cause, the Ministry of National Defense believes that there are problems with the leadership and direction of flight safety. Due to subjective errors, before 2014, there were few aircraft accidents, so there was a subjective mentality in ensuring flight safety, and lessons were not learned thoroughly, accidents occurred continuously but no specific lessons were learned.

Flight safety checks are not timely.

“According to the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense, flight safety inspections are still simple and untimely. Staff training is not basic. Evaluation and use of some positions are not appropriate to their capacity. Awareness of flight safety work is not up to the requirements,” said Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang.

The next reason given by the Ministry of Defense is the lack of uniformity in rescue vehicles.

Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang said the military also wants to deploy more search and rescue aircraft, but not all aircraft can do search and rescue, they must be specialized aircraft. Currently, Vietnam has very few aviation search and rescue vehicles.

The final reason is that pilot management is still lax, including pilot training. According to Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang, the Air Defense - Air Force, and the units that failed to ensure flight safety have accepted responsibility.

Thorough treatment to minimize risks

After analyzing the cause, the Central Military Commission determined that the responsibility lies primarily with the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense in leadership and direction, and directly with the fault of the air force units where the plane accident occurred.

Therefore, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense have proposed measures, first of all, to review the responsibilities of individuals, agencies and units, as mentioned, disciplining more than 40 people. Second, to review the quality of aircraft, schools and units.

According to Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang, this is something that should have been done a long time ago, but in reality, when starting to modernize, the synchronization of school units is also a problem.

To be synchronous and modern, first of all, the people must be synchronous and modern, while most of the pilots are trained domestically. Besides Su30MK2, Su27, CASA... most of the remaining aircraft are old aircraft.

“Therefore, the issue of flight safety is a risk that will continue to occur if not thoroughly handled. The Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense have recognized this and have done a good job of reviewing and evaluating aircraft, including evaluating flight training agencies, and comprehensively inspecting air defense and air force units. Before that, the units will be required to self-check and report,” said Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang.

In the long term, there will be a plan to send officers and soldiers for training at home and abroad to ensure the synchronous modernization of the air force and have a plan to repair and upgrade aircraft.

Speaking more about upgrading aircraft, Major General Nguyen Minh Hoang said that this is very necessary because currently there are aircraft that are not sure if they can fly, do not dare to fly because they have expired, if they want to fly they have to upgrade their class. They may have to send them abroad to upgrade their class, which is very expensive.

In addition, the Ministry of National Defense also recommended that the Party and State increase the purchase of vehicles and equipment to ensure flight safety in the coming time.

According to Tuoi Tre