The black boxes- a voice recorder and flight data recorder, were retrieved on Monday in the waters near Hai Phong City’s Bach Long Vy Island.
Two dead bodies of the missing crew members have also been found on Monday. Their identity remains unknown. The black boxes and bodies were reportedly stuck at a depth of 50- 60 meters below sea level.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said earlier, Airbus - the maker of the sea patrol plane - will cooperate with Vietnam to identify the reasons behind the incident. The company has asked for data from the black box and CASA’s cockpit recordings to be transfered to Airbus’s office in Madrid (Spain) so they can reconstruct the accident for investigation.
As of June 27, the search and rescue teams have found 6 out of 9 crew members on the missing aircraft. The Ministry of National Defense has confirmed they were all dead.
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.
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