Two more bodies of CASA aircraft crew found: ministry

Vietnam on Tuesday found two more bodies of the crew of CASA aircraft that crashed in waters off the country's northern Hai Phong City on June 16, according to the website of Vietnam's Ministry of Defense.

So far, as many as eight bodies of the nine-member CASA crew have been found at the searching area. The bodies have been transferred to competent authorities for identification.

On June 16, the CASA aircraft with nine crew members on board was carrying out search and rescue mission for a missing pilot on SU-30 fighter jet that went down during a training session two days earlier.

After passing Bach Long Vi island by 44 nautical miles, the plane asked for permission to descend but contact was then lost.

After 11 days of searching, the SU-30 fighter was confirmed to have crashed in waters off central Nghe An province, while the CASA aircraft had crashed in waters off Bach Long Vi island.

The search and rescue forces have found some debris of the aircraft and the fighter. Black boxes of the CASA aircraft were retrieved on Monday.

Vietnamese Minister of Defense Ngo Xuan Lich on Monday requested relevant agencies to continue searching of the CASA aircraft crew as well as find and salvage the SU-30 jet.

The minister also instructed competent agencies to analyze CASA aircraft's black boxes to find the cause of the accident. Endit