Military aircraft crash kills 2 in central Vietnam

Smoke is seen from afar after a Su-22 fighter aircraft of Vietnam Air Force crashed in the central province of Nghe An on Thursday. Photo acquired by VnExpress

The Su-22 fighter aircraft departed at 11:06 a.m. on Thursday on a training flight from the Sao Vang Airport in Thanh Hoa Province.

It lost contact at 11:35 a.m. and crashed in the neighboring Nghe An Province’s Nghia Yen Commune in Nghia Dan District.

The two pilots on board were Lieutenant Colonel Khuat Manh Tri, 40, and Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Pham Giang Nam, 46.

The jet, operated by Vietnam Air Force's Regiment 921, shattered into many pieces, said Hoang Van Phuc, Chairman of Nghia Yen.

Local authorities and forces from the Ministry of National Defense have cordoned off the accident site, 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the capital city of Hanoi, for further investigation.

Vietnam has used Su-22 fighter, made by the Soviet Union, since the 1970s.

From 1989 onwards, these planes have been used for patrolling the area around Spratly Islands in the East Sea, which is known internationally as the South China Sea.

A search team walks into the jungle in Nghe An after a military plane crashed on Thursday. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Many accidents

Vietnam's military airforce reported multiple deadly crashes in recent years, including at least two incidents in 2016 in which four military members were killed.

In June 2015, Vietnam’s Air Defense suffered a double loss in just one week. A Su-30MK2 Vietnamese fighter crashed off Nghe An and only one of the two pilots made it out alive. Two days later, a CASA aircraft went missing while searching for the plane, and nine people on board were later found dead.

In January 2015, four people were killed when a Vietnamese military helicopter crashed minutes after it took off from Ho Chi Minh City. In July 2014, 19 people died and two others were injured when a Russian-made Mi-171 chopper crashed in Hanoi during a training exercise.

In 2008, five Vietnamese air force officers were killed when their twin-engine light transport aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Hanoi.