Searchers have recovered the body of one of two pilots missing since their Su-22 fighter jets crashed into the sea near Phu Quy Island while on a training exercise on April 16.
Location of crash
Divers found cockpit wreckage on April 28 and the body of one of the pilots.
The search, interrupted repeatedly by rough ocean conditions, is continuing for the second pilot.
The dead pilot was identified as Lieutenant Le Van Nghia, deputy head of Regiment 937. Captain Nguyen Anh Tu, of Squadron 1, is still missing.
Signals were lost from the two military aircraft from the Air Division 370, based at Thanh Son Military Airport in Ninh Thuan Province during a training exercise on April 16. Crew from a fishing boat said there was a collision and the jets fell from the sky.
Search and rescue teams found a piece of parachute and three fuel tanks quickly, and on April 19, debris was found at a depth of 30m. Three ships have been scouring a two-square-kilometre area with sonar and directing divers about 15km north of Phu Quy Island.
The Sukhoi Su-22, built by the former Soviet Union, has been in service in the Vietnam Air Force since 1979.
