Vietnam sends out eight planes in search of missing jet

Vietnam sends out eight planes in search of missing jet

Vietnam's hydro aircraft joins the search

Nhan Dan Online/VNA – Eight Vietnamese planes and eight ships have been sent out today to continue combing the area surrounding the location where the plane of Malaysia Airlines was believed to go missing on the East Sea on March 8.

>> Search for Malaysian plane expanded to northwest

>> Vietnamese forces expand search area

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duc Tai of the Air Force’s Regiment 917, who was on duty at Ca Mau Airport on March 10 morning, said a helicopter had flown Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu to the location where an unknown object was sighted earlier.

Two planes are conducting search at the site while another is helping with information. Early on March 10, a naval hydroplane also departed from Phu Quoc Island to this area.

As of 3pm this afternoon, Vietnam has dispatched eight planes on the third day of the search for the missing Malaysian jetliner.

At Ca Mau Airport in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, a helicopter is ready to take off at any time for rescue activities. The plane is equipped with two cranes capable of lifting two persons at the same time.

The weather in the past two days is favourable for search activities, with wind speed at 15-20 km per hour and visibility at 7-10km.

Hordes of domestic and foreign reporters have flocked to Phu Quoc island district, the southern province of Kien Giang, where a command office will be set up soon to co-ordinate the search for the missing Malaysia jet.

In a meeting with a team from Hong Kong’s I.cable News Ltd on March 10, Colonel Dau Khai Hoan, Political Director of Naval Zone 5, affirmed that naval ships are continuing their search but there has been no new findings so far.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the country’s largest airport Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City. Since March 8 night, additional checking measures have been applied at both entry and departure gates, especially those for overseas flights.

Director of the airport’s aviation security centre Do Xuan Toan said that besides regular screenings of luggage and passengers, security officials are questioning, at random, on the origin of belongings and are rechecking 10% of goods following screenings. He added that passengers have been co-operative so far.

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