Bell 505 helicopter crash in Quang Ninh is a class A incident

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam classified the Bell 505 helicopter crash with registration number VN-8650 in Ha Long Bay ( Quang Ninh ) as a level A accident (with damage to people and aircraft).

Salvage forces salvage the tail of the Bell 505 helicopter, model VN 8650, that crashed in Ha Long Bay, April 5. Photo: VNA

Regarding the investigation of the Bell 505 helicopter crash in Quang Ninh, the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has just said that, based on the 2006 Civil Aviation Law and the 2014 amended Civil Aviation Law, the implementing guidelines and Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) on aircraft accident investigation, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam classified the Bell 505 helicopter crash with registration number VN-8650 in Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) as a level A accident (with damage to people and aircraft).

Therefore, the investigation is carried out in accordance with Article 106 of the Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam. Accordingly, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam proposes to submit to the Government to conduct accident investigation according to the above regulations with the participation of relevant ministries, departments and the designing country, manufacturing country, aircraft manufacturer, and aircraft engine manufacturer.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that after the accident, the aircraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter and the Canadian Transportation Safety Board sent a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam requesting support and sending representatives to participate in the investigation into the cause of the accident.

Providing more information about this accident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that before the helicopter crash in Ha Long Bay, the Northern Helicopter Company operated two Bell 505 aircraft with registration numbers VN-8650 and VN-8651. The aircraft were fully maintained according to approved schedules. These two helicopters had 682 hours of flight time carrying tourists with more than 7,000 passengers.

The Bell 505 aircraft with registration number VN-8650 that crashed had a total of 488 flight hours at the time of the crash. The helicopter had 2,655 takeoffs and landings. The pilot of the crashed helicopter had a commercial pilot license valid until June 2026.

Regarding weather and meteorological conditions at the time of the accident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that at the time of the incident, visibility was from 6 to 8 km; temperature was 26 degrees Celsius, completely suitable for visual flight conditions.

VNA has just reported that after two days of searching, the body of the last victim in the accident of 5 people on a helicopter tour of Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) was found at around 8:00 a.m. on April 7. That was the body of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi (born in 1963), wife of Mr. Ho Ta Luc (born in 1964), with an address in Da Nang city.

The bodies of the pilot and three other victims were previously found by forces on the night of April 5 and 6. Basic parts of the Bell 505 helicopter have been found and are continuing to be salvaged from the seabed to be brought to the mainland to serve the investigation.

Previously, on the evening of April 5, according to information from the Propaganda Department, Ministry of National Defense: Bell-505 aircraft, registration number VN-8650 of the Northern Helicopter Company under the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (Army Corps 18) piloted by Colonel Chu Quang Minh, carrying 4 Vietnamese tourists on a sightseeing tour of Ha Long Bay from above, took off at 4:56 p.m., and lost contact at 5:15 p.m.

As soon as the plane lost signal, the Northern Helicopter Company coordinated with the Border Guard and local military forces to urgently search and rescue.

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