Vietnamese pilot dies in plane crash in UK

The Vietnamese pilot who died in a plane crash in the UK has been identified as Major Nguyen Thanh Trung of the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation.

British police cordoned off the scene. Photo: Independent

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho said he had received a report from the Civil Aviation Authority about this incident. "The Ministry of Transport has received information about this incident, the Civil Aviation Authority has reported it," Mr. Le Dinh Tho briefly informed.

On the morning of November 19, private sources said that a Vietnamese pilot was involved in a plane crash that occurred in London (UK) at noon on November 17.

The identity of the deceased Vietnamese pilot was confirmed as Major Nguyen Thanh Trung, deputy head of flight training at the Training Center, Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (VNH Training).

A leader of the Flight Safety Standards Department of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said the agency has not received an official report on the helicopter crash in the UK that killed a Vietnamese pilot.

However, according to preliminary information that the Civil Aviation Authority has, the accident occurred between a training helicopter and a Cessna 152 aircraft.

On board the helicopter were a British instructor and a Vietnamese trainee, Major Nguyen Thanh Trung, from the Training Center, Vietnam Helicopter Corporation.

"Pilot Nguyen Thanh Trung had an accident while flying under the supervision of a British teacher. The plane was registered in the UK and the accident happened in the UK, so the British authorities are investigating. They have not yet made an official report, we have only received preliminary information," said the leader of the Flight Safety Standards Department.

Initial information we have obtained shows that Major Nguyen Thanh Trung was previously sent by his unit to receive flight training in the UK. This is an annual flight training program for pilots in the unit, usually taking place twice a year per pilot.

The cause of the above accident was initially determined to be two planes colliding head-on in the air (including a helicopter on a training flight and a light civil aircraft).

The accident killed two pilots on the helicopter and two others on the civilian plane. The collision occurred because the civilian plane strayed into a training flight area.

Although there had been a previous flight ban for other aircraft in the training flight area, for some reason the pilot of the civil aircraft did not receive this notice, the source said.

As a young pilot (born in 1985), Major Nguyen Thanh Trung is considered a good pilot in flight training of the Air Force as well as Vietnam Aviation, especially helicopter flight training.

He is often jokingly called "Trung Puma" by his friends and colleagues (his name is a combination of the name of the EC-225 Super Puma helicopter, a long-distance passenger transport helicopter designed to perform special missions at sea and transport passengers or perform search and rescue operations).

Major Nguyen Thanh Trung was also the main pilot in the transport, exploration and survey flights at sea of ​​the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. Currently, the Vietnamese authorities are completing the procedures to bring the body of Major Nguyen Thanh Trung back to Vietnam.

Major Trung's body is expected to be transferred to Ba Ria - Vung Tau in the next 2-3 days, the source said.

According to Tuoi Tre