In Quang Nam, when the parachute deployed, carrying the pilot away from the crashed Su-22, many people in Dien Nam Trung ward predicted where the parachute would land and waited to provide assistance.
At 11:04 AM on January 9th, Su-22 aircraft number 5880, piloted by Do Tien Duc (36 years old), took off from Da Nang airport to perform a training flight mission for the 929th Regiment, 372nd Division, Air Defense - Air Force Command. Ten minutes later, Captain Duc informed the flight commander that the aircraft had encountered a problem and could not land.
He was ordered to try to steer the plane away from densely populated areas before parachuting. "Captain Duc made an effort to steer the plane away from residential areas and parachuted 19 km south of the runway, in Dien Nam Trung commune, Dien Ban town, Quang Nam province," Lieutenant Colonel Doan The Son, Deputy Commander of the 372nd Division, told VnExpress.
The sequence of events in the Su-22 plane crash. Video : Dac Thanh - Huy Manh - Do Nam
At that moment, many residents in the Dien Nam Trung and Dien Nam Bac wards of Dien Ban town panicked when they saw a military plane suddenly swooping down, with streaks of white smoke behind it. Mr. Nguyen Tri Thanh, 60 years old, was startled by a loud explosion during his lunch break. He dropped his chopsticks and rushed outside, seeing the military plane about to crash. He ran around the neighborhood shouting, "The plane is on fire!"
Around him, many people were shouting, some carrying children and running away. Beside the thick column of smoke, many people spotted a yellow parachute that had opened, carrying the pilot to safety from the plane. Many speculated about where the pilot might have crashed and rushed to the scene to help.
The pilot landed, but the parachute got caught in a coconut tree. Photo: Anh Quang
After hovering in the air for a few minutes, the yellow parachute landed and got stuck in a coconut tree, and the Su-22 pilot landed safely. Many local residents and police officers from Dien Nam Trung ward were waiting to help the pilot untie the parachute harness, and then took him to a nearby radar station to rest.
"Upon landing, the pilot was unharmed, healthy, calm, and not panicked. The parachute, which was stuck in a coconut tree, was removed by authorities later that same day," the source said.
Approximately 200 meters from where the pilot parachuted, the Su-22 crashed into a garden planted with flowers and vegetables. Debris was scattered across an area nearly 300 meters long and 100 meters wide, a few dozen meters from residential houses. The tail and engine of the aircraft fell in an open field between two rows of houses. Many vegetable beds and crops planted by the residents were scorched.
The tail of the plane fell into an empty plot of land between two rows of houses. Photo: Dac Thanh
"I was afraid my house would burn down, but I didn't dare go back. I wanted to run into the bamboo thicket to take shelter because of the flying debris, but my legs were shaking and I couldn't move," shared a woman who was working in the fields at the time of the plane crash. She said the Su-22 crashed vertically and very quickly, not circling around.
The nose section of the plane crashed into a field, creating a large dent in the surface, with debris flying in all directions. Some pieces struck the walls of people's houses, leaving cuts; others landed on the ground, sending dirt flying onto the corrugated iron roofs of houses.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, 54 years old, was cutting banana trees in his backyard when a piece of debris from an airplane hit him in the head. His wife, Ms. Phan Thi Tien (46 years old), recounted that she was fetching water to put out a fire when she saw Mr. Hung crouching near a banana bush, trembling uncontrollably and bleeding from his head.
Ms. Phan Thi Tien recounts the moment she witnessed her husband being injured in the plane crash. Photo: Nguyen Dong
"I asked my husband if he had lit a fire, because I thought he had lit a fire and accidentally hit a landmine, causing him injury, but he said he didn't know what happened," Mrs. Tien said, adding that she then helped Mr. Hung into the house to take him to the hospital.
The plane crash damaged the tiled roof and collapsed the walls of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chinh's house in Dien Nam Bac ward, affecting an area of nearly 100 square meters. As of this evening, the area around Mr. Chinh's house is still cordoned off, awaiting the arrival of cranes and smaller cutting machines from the military to clear the scene.
Military personnel cleared the aircraft wreckage at 5:30 PM on September 1st; the tail section was cut apart before being loaded onto specialized vehicles. Photo: Nguyen Dong
The Ministry of Defense stated that the pilot made efforts to steer the aircraft away from residential areas to minimize damage upon detecting the incident. The Air Force Command has directed relevant agencies to coordinate with local authorities to cordon off the scene and investigate the incident.
Nguyen Dong - Dac Thanh
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