A Vietnam Air Force Su-22 tactical fighter-bomber lost control and crashed during a routine training flight. The pilot successfully ejected.
Colonel Hoàng Trung Kiên, political commissar of Division 372 (Air Defense Unit of the Vietnamese Air Force), told the Vietnamese News Agency that the pilot was able to eject and escaped from the aircraft before it crashed.
The aircraft, identified as a SU-22 with designation number 80 of the E929F372 Regiment of the Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) base in Đà Nẵng City, was being piloted by Captain Đỗ Tiến Đức during a routine training flight.
Preliminary findings suggest that the incident was due to a loss of control.
At around 11 a.m. on January 9, the Su-22 aircraft crashed into the Bình Ninh Street (Điện Bàn Town) block while conducting a training flight. The pilot struggled to steer the aircraft away from residential areas and ejected at a position 19 km south of the runway.
The front and rear parts of the aircraft fell about 200 meters away at the crash site. Debris was scattered in the area, causing damage to a nearby house, and one local resident suffered minor injuries from flying debris.
Authorities are currently conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
