Hanoi (VNA) – A Bell-505 helicopter coded VN-8650, owned by the Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company under the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation, took off at 4:56pm and lost contact at 5:15pm on April 5 while carrying four Vietnamese tourists on a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay from above.
The Ministry of National Defence’s Department of Information and Training reported on April 5 that the helicopter was piloted by Colonel Chu Quang Minh.
Right after the helicopter lost contact, the Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company immediately coordinated with the local border guard and military forces to urgently deploy search and rescue operations.
At 7:18pm, the forces reported that they had recovered two bodies and some debris believed to be from the helicopter at the edge of the shore.
The Hon Gai Border Gate's Border Guard Station in Quang Ninh said the unit was also working with relevant agencies to search and rescue the victims in the helicopter crash in the territorial waters between Quang Ninh province’s Ha Long Bay and Hai Phong province’s Lan Ha Bay./.
