The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam classified the Bell 505 helicopter with registration number VN-8650 that crashed in Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) as a level A accident (with loss of life and aircraft).
Regarding the investigation of the Bell 505 helicopter crash in Quang Ninh, the leader of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has just said that, based on the Civil Aviation Law 2006 and the revised Civil Aviation Law 2014, the guiding documents and appendix 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) on aircraft accident investigation, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam classifies the accident as the VN-505 8650 plane crash in Ninh Long Bay with the number of registration number of the VN-XNUMX Bell helicopter crash at XNUMX registration number. 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 Administration of Vietnam proposes to propose to the Government to conduct accident investigation according to the above regulations with the participation of relevant ministries and agencies and the country of design, the country of manufacture, the manufacturer of the aircraft, and the manufacturer of aircraft engines.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, after the above accident, aircraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter and the Canadian Transport Safety Committee sent a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam asking for assistance and sending representatives to participate in the investigation of the cause of the accident.
More information about this accident, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said, before the helicopter crash in Ha Long Bay, Northern Helicopter Company operated two Bell 505 aircraft with registration numbers VN-8650 and VN-8651. Aircraft are fully serviced periodically according to approved contents. These two helicopters have had 682 hours of flight time carrying tourists with more than 7.000 passengers.
Bell 505 aircraft registration number VN-8650 crashed with a total of 488 hours of flight time up to the time of the crash. This helicopter has had 2.655 takeoffs/landings. The pilot of the helicopter that crashed had a commercial pilot license valid until June 6.
Regarding weather and meteorological conditions when the accident occurred, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said that at the time of the incident, the visibility reached from 6 to 8 km; temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, perfectly suitable for visual flying conditions.
The VNA has just reported that, after two days of searching, the body of the last victim in the case of five people who crashed on a helicopter flight to visit Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) was found at around 5:8 a.m. on April 7. It is the body of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoi (born in 4), the wife of Mr. Ho Ta Luc (born in 1963), address in Da Nang city.
The bodies of the male pilot and three other victims were previously found by the forces on the night of April 3 and 5. The basic parts of the Bell 6 helicopter have been found and are continuing to be recovered from the seabed and brought back to the mainland for investigation.
Earlier, on the evening of April 5, according to information from the Department of Propaganda and Training, Ministry of Defense: Bell-4 aircraft, number VN-505 of Northern Helicopter Company of Vietnam Helicopters Corporation (Brigade 8650) piloted by Colonel Chu Quang Minh, carrying 18 Vietnamese tourists performing sightseeing tours of Ha Long Bay from above, took off at 4h16, lost contact at 56:17.
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.
