The first formation flight at Dien Bien Phu airport

Since 4 a.m., officers from Regiment 916, Division 371; Regiment 930, Division 372 and Regiment 917, Division 370 of the Air Defense - Air Force - are the joint training flight units today, have prepared conditions for the joint training flight to ensure safety and meet the requirements.

Officers of Regiment 916 check the aircraft before the joint training flight.

Lieutenant Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Chief Engineer of the 916th Regiment, 371st Division, said: Before each flight, each aircraft is carefully inspected to ensure aviation technical standards, as well as to ensure the aircraft operates well and has no damage.

"During the parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory, the planes will be checked for positions such as engines and automatic tilt because those positions often have unexpected failures to eliminate that risk, ensuring the planes operate well and ensure safety," said Lieutenant Nguyen Ngoc Hai.

During the first formation training session at Dien Bien Phu airport today, the units conducted 3 flights, each lasting about 45 minutes. The flight time was quite long, so ensuring the health of the pilots was one of the factors that received special attention.

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Duc Trung, Head of Logistics, Air Force Regiment 916, Air Force Division 371 said: "For pilots, flight crew members must always pay attention to regularly monitoring the health of each member; urge them to eat, sleep, rest and live in order, according to regulations to ensure the best health for performing tasks."

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hoang, Deputy Political Commissar of Air Force Regiment 916, Air Force Division 371, and a pilot directly participating in the parade flight mission, said: During today's joint flight, the weather was not entirely favorable, affecting visibility and having certain restrictions on maintaining formation while flying. However, overall, the first joint flight of the 3 Divisions at Dien Bien Phu airport today took place with absolute safety, meeting the requirements.

"The terrain at Dien Bien Phu airport is located in a basin, surrounded by high hills and mountains, high targets. This is the first time some pilots have participated in flying activities in this area, so there are certain difficulties, requiring a high level of understanding, research, exchange, coordination, meticulousness and precision during the formation flight process," said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hoang.

Also according to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hoang, Deputy Political Commissar of Air Force Regiment 916, Air Force Division 371, every officer and soldier in the force is very excited and enthusiastic about carrying out their tasks with the highest determination, contributing to the overall success of the Celebration on May 7.

Some pictures at the training session:

Officers of Regiment 916 check the aircraft before the joint training flight.

Refuel after each flight.

Planes gathered at the old runway of Dien Bien Phu airport.

Conduct airborne formation training.

A total of 10 aircraft flew in this first training session.

The weather in Dien Bien Phu today is gloomy, fog obscures visibility...

...there should be certain restrictions on keeping formation while flying.

However, overall the first joint flight training session was assessed as meeting the requirements.

Many people from Dien Bien came to watch the first training session.

Source: https://vov.vn/chinh-tri/bien-doi-truc-thang-bay-hop-luyen-doi-hinh-dau-tien-tai-san-bay-dien-bien-phu-post1091139.vov