Twin-Engine Aircraft Crashes in the Gulf of Tonkin During Search and Rescue Mission (8983)

Incident Overview and Mission Context On 0930 local time, a crew departed from Hanoi-Gia Lam Airport to conduct a search and rescue (SAR) operation. The mission was initiated after a Vietnam Air Force Sukhoi SU-30 had been missing for two days. The aircraft involved in the crash was a twin-engine model, though its specific type and registration were not provided in the source material. During the SAR mission, the aircraft was cruising over the Gulf of Tonkin under good weather conditions. The aircraft subsequently went out of control and crashed into the sea. The crash site was located approximately 22 kilometers southwest of Bạch Long Vĩ Island. In the hours following the incident, some debris was discovered floating on the water's surface. All nine occupants of the aircraft were killed in the crash.