Su-22 plane crashed in Nghe An in July due to 'bad weather'
Two and a half months after the Su-22 crash in Nghe An that killed two pilots, the Ministry of National Defense responded about the cause of the accident.
On the morning of October 9, at the Ministry of National Defense's third quarter press conference, answering the question about the cause of the Su-22 crash in Nghe An more than two months ago, Major General Nguyen Van Duc (Director of Propaganda Department) said that the authorities had concluded that "the cause of the plane flying into an area of localized bad weather".
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Major General Nguyen Van Duc. Photo:VT. |
Previously, on July 26, 2018, Su-22 aircraft number 8551 of Air Force Regiment 921, Division 371, Air Defense - Air Force, departed from Sao Vang airport (Tho Xuan, Thanh Hoa) for a routine training flight and had an accident in Nghe An airspace.
The two pilots who died were Lieutenant Colonel Khuat Manh Tri (40 years old, from Hanoi), Deputy Regiment Commander, Chief of Staff and Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Giang Nam (46 years old, from Thai Binh), Flight Commander of Regiment 921.
Search continues for the remains of two MiG pilots missing in 1971
Regarding the search for the remains of two Vietnamese and former Soviet pilots on the MiG plane that went missing on April 30, 1971 in the Tam Dao mountain area, Major General Nguyen Van Duc said that on September 28, the search team of the Thai Nguyen Provincial Military Command found specimens suspected to be knee and wrist bones.
"The specimens were found in a spongy and crumbly state. The search team collected them, protected them in nylon bags and brought them to the Thai Nguyen Military Command. The search unit also discovered many related relics such as shoe soles, gloves, belts, leather straps and parts suspected to be from the crashed plane," said Major General Duc.
But after the Ministry of Defense directed the authorities to examine the specimens, it concluded that there was not enough basis to confirm that they were the remains of Vietnamese and Soviet (former) pilots who had an accident in 1971.
"The search team did not have expertise in anatomy, so when they discovered white, spongy objects, they suspected they were the bones of two martyrs. But later, scientists determined that they were not human bones," Mr. Duc explained, sharing that the search units had a high sense of responsibility, but the results were not as expected.
In the coming time, the Ministry of National Defense will assign the Office of the National Steering Committee 515 on searching, collecting and identifying martyrs' remains to continue searching for the remains of the two pilots.