2 Vietnamese Fighters Suffer Midair Collision, Pilots Missing

Two pilots are missing after their airplanes crashed in midair during an aerobatic training exercise off the coast of central Vietnam yesterday morning.

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The Russian-made Su-22M4 fighter jets are believed to have crashed into the East Sea approximately 10 to 15 nautical miles north of Phu Quy Island, reports Thanh Nien.

Major General Do Minh Tuan, Vice Commander of the Vietnam Air Force, said that air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at about 11:35am and that three fuel tanks and pieces of a parachute have been found near the accident site.

The Air Force Command has refused to confirm reports that the two pilots parachuted into the sea, only saying that the search and rescue mission is ongoing.

38 Su-22s are still believed to be in active service with the Vietnamese Air Force. Over 2,800 variants of the aircraft were built between 1969 and 1990.

It’s been a rough past few months for the Vietnamese Air Force. Last July, 16 soldiers died when their MI-171 helicopter crashed on the outskirts of Hanoi and in January, four crew were killed when their Bell UH-1 Iroquois went down in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District.