According to the Ministry of Defence, a memorial service for the Eurocopter EC130 aircraft flight crew began at 7am at the ministry’s funeral home in HCM City. Then funeral rituals were scheduled to take place at 10 am.
The Airbus-produced helicopter took off on a training mission at 7.40 am on October 18 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with three crew members onboard. The plane lost communications at 8.03 am while flying to the northwest of Dinh Mountain, 25 kilometres from Vung Tau Airport.
The bodies of three crew members and the plane's debris were found the following day in Bao Quan Mountain in Tan Thanh District.
The three crewmembers, identified as trainer Captain Duong Le Minh, 32, and two trainees, lieutenants Dang Dinh Duy and Nguyen Van Tung, both 25, were from Division 18 under the Ministry of Defence.
Three crewmembers of the Eurocopter EC130 aircraft flight that crashed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on October 18
In August, a military aircraft crashed in a paddy field in Phu Yen Province’s Dong Hoa District on its training session, killing one young pilot.
Earlier this year, a Su30 MK2 fighter jet under Division 371 of the Air Defence - Air Force Service crashed into the sea, while flying off Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces on June 14. Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai died while Major Nguyen Huu Cuong was later rescued by fishermen.
During the search and rescue mission for the Su30 MK2 plane, rescue aircraft CASA 212, coded 8983, of Brigade 918 of the Air Defence-Air Force Service also had an accident while flying off Bach Long Vi Island. Eight crew members were confirmed dead while the body of another serviceman, also believed to have died, has yet to be found.
