CASA 212 crew member found dead at crash site

By Vo Van Thanh, Thai Mac June 23, 2016 | 03:51 am PT

Rescue teams are recovering a debris supposed of CASA 212. Photo by VnExpress

Search and rescue teams looking for the missing sea patrol plane CASA 212 have found a second body belonging to a crew member at the aircraft’s suspected crash site near Hai Phong this afternoon.

A source told VnExpress the second body is Major Nguyen Van Chinh, one of the nine crew members on board the crashed CASA 212. He was discovered by a fishing boat in the search area.

Earlier this morning, the MoD reported that they had found the first body, whose identity remains unknown, at around 10:00 a.m. near the site of an engine suspected to be a part of the CASA 212 plane. It was reported to be lying at a depth of 60 meters below sea level, 15 nautical miles to the south south-east of Bach Long Vy.

Around 6:30 p.m. local time, the Ministry of Defense issued a confirmation message that the search teams have been able to pinpoint the exact location of CASA 212. The message said the search teams have discovered an aircraft’s engine, a number of bodies of crew members and the aircraft’s debris which reads 8983 - CASA 212’s registration number.

There are nearly 40 ships from the Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force Division and fisheries units currently searching for the crew and the black box from CASA, according to Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Minh, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnam People's Army.

Airbus, the maker of the sea patrol plane, is currently cooperating with Vietnam to identify the reasons behind the incident. On June 21, the company asked for data from the black box and CASA’s cockpit recordings to be transferred to Airbus’s office in Madrid (Spain) so they can reconstruct the accident for investigation.

Sea patrol plane CASA C-212 Aviocar 400, operated by the Vietnam Coast Guard, was reported missing on June 16 during a search mission for the Su-30MK2 Vietnamese fighter jet that crashed offshore the central province of Nghe An. The jet had two pilots on board, one of whom, Major Nguyen Huu Cuong, was rescued, but the other, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai, 43, was found dead at sea.

> Vietnam Coast Guard homes in on black box of missing CASA plane

> Su-30 fighter and CASA-212 rescuer: the tragedy explained