Soldiers stood to attention as Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai was lifted from a gurney draped with white sheets into an ambulance to begin his final journey home to family and friends in Hanoi. |
In a brief but passionate memorial service in the early morning hours of June 18 they bade him farewell. |
Colonel Duong Minh Hien, deputy commander of Nghe An Province Military Command said the body has been transferred to the Military Zone 4 Hospital in Vinh city. |
He was a talented pilot with a personality that was second to none, said an officer who knew Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai personally. |
After which, it will be returned to his immediate family in Hanoi. |
A fishing boat discovered the body on June 17 at around 6:00 pm tangled in a parachute floating in the waters about 33 nautical miles offshore the province of Thanh Hoa. |
Major Nguyen Thanh Thuy, commander in chief of a battalion from Thanh Hoa Hon Mat Island, said it appears Senior Lieutenant Colonel Khai died about two days prior on June 15. |
The co-pilot Major Nguyen Huu Cuong was rescued by a fishing boat on June 15, the day after the plane crashed. |
Vietnam People's Air Defence - Air Force lost contact with the fighter jet flying offshore Nghe An on June 14. |
The jet departed from Tho Xuan Airport in Thanh Hoa Province for routine training but disappeared from radar at 7:29 am on June 14. |
