Myanmar military aircraft missing after losing communication - military

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Myanmar military aircraft missing after losing communication - military

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar army aircraft went missing on a domestic flight on Wednesday, the military said in a statement on its official Facebook page. It did not specify how many people were on board.

 

The plane left the southern coastal town of Myeik in the early afternoon and was bound for Myanmar's largest city of Yangon, but it lost contact about 20 miles (32 km) west of the town of Dawei and has been declared missing, the military said.

 

A search had been launched, it said.

 

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Yimou Lee and Wa Lone; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-07

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Myanmar army plane with 105 on board missing after losing communication

By Wa Lone

 

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar army aircraft with 105 people on board went missing on Wednesday on a flight from a southern town to the city of Yangon, the military and civil aviation officials said.

 

The Chinese-made Y-8 transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik at 1:06 p.m (0636 GMT) heading north to Myanmar's largest city of Yangon.

 

It lost contact while flying over the Andaman sea, about 20 miles (32 km) west of the town of Dawei, the military and civil aviation officials said.

 

"The total number of people on the military plane is 105. We received this information from the airplane before departure," said Kyaw Kyaw Htey, a civil aviation official at Myeik airport.

 

"We don't know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact."

 

He said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.

 

The military has mobilised the air force and navy to search for the aircraft.

 

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Yimou Lee and Wa Lone; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-07

[webfact]

Search mounted for Myanmar army plane missing with 122 aboard

By Wa Lone and Shoon Naing

 

YANGON (Reuters) - Ships and planes were scouring the coast of southern Myanmar on Wednesday after a military aircraft vanished over the Andaman Sea with 122 soldiers, family members and crew on board, the army and civil aviation officials said.

 

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik at 1:06 p.m (0636 GMT), heading north to Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, officials said. It was on a weekly military flight that was scheduled to stop at several coastal towns along the way.

 

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after takeoff while flying at 18,000 feet (5,485 metres) over the sea, about 43 miles (70 km) west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

 

"We don't know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact," said Kyaw Kyaw Htey, a civil aviation official at Myeik airport.

 

Authorities reported conflicting numbers of people aboard. The latest military update from around 10:00 p.m. (1530 GMT) put the total number of those aboard at 122, including 108 soldiers and their family members and 14 crew. Among the passengers were 15 children, 58 adults and 35 soldiers and officers, according to the statement.

 

It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but Kyaw Kyaw Htey said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.

 

The military began a search soon after the plane disappeared, mobilising nine navy ships and three military planes, the army said in its latest news release. The search continued as darkness fell.

 

Some 300 to 400 people, including firefighters, medics, emergency and welfare officials, gathered on the shore near the town of Launglon, close to the area where the naval search was concentrated, said Naing Myo Thwin, the chairman of the local funeral association, from the scene.

 

"We haven't seen any trace of the plane yet," Naing Myo Thwin told Reuters by telephone. He doubles as a member of the local hospital's emergency team.

 

Aung Win, a local police officer also speaking from the scene by telephone, confirmed that a large number of people had gathered on the beach. He said because no trace of the plane had been found, so they were moving to other areas along the shore.

 

The aircraft was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said.

 

Aircraft incidents, both civilian and military, are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country. A military helicopter crashed last June in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board.

 

Five military personnel were killed last February after an air force aircraft crashed in the country’s capital, Naypyitaw, according to media reports. Two people were killed and 11 injured after a small plane crashed in central Myanmar in 2012.

 

(Additional reporting by Yimou Lee; Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Larry King)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-08

[lvr181]

RIP those who perished and a speedy recovery to the survivors.

 

A Chinese plane? And maybe sometime in the future there will be Chinese submarines being operated by Thai Navy? I guess the only certainty in that, is that a submarine will not fall out of the sky! But otherwise..............

[webfact]

Bodies, debris found in search for missing Myanmar aircraft

 

A still image taken from video released on June 7, 2017 shows the photograph of a Y-8-200 F military aircraft. FACEBOOK: CINCDS MYANMAR/Handout/via Reuters TV

 

YANGON (Reuters) - Bodies and aircraft debris were found in the sea off the southern coast of Myanmar on Thursday by a navy ship searching for a military plane which went missing with 122 soldiers, family members and crew on board.

 

Three bodies, including two adults and a child, were found some 35 km (22 miles) from the southern coastal town of Launglon, the military said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

 

A plane wheel, two life jackets and some bags with clothes - believed to be from the missing Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane - were also found, the statement said, adding the military search will continue.

 

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane vanished on early Wednesday afternoon after takeoff from the coastal town of Myeik on a weekly military flight.

 

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after takeoff while flying at 18,000 feet (5,485 metres) over the Andaman Sea, about 43 miles (70 km) west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

 

The plane, heading north to Myanmar's largest city Yangon, carried 122 passengers, including 108 soldiers and their family members and 14 crew. Among them were 15 children, 58 adults and 35 soldiers and officers, according to a military statement.

 

Nine navy ships, five military planes and two helicopters were mobilised on Thursday to search for the missing aircraft.

 

It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but a civil aviation official said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.

 

The aircraft was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said.

 

Nicknamed "air camel" in Chinese, the multi-purpose aircraft was approved for production in 1980 and is still being produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation, a unit of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China. The four-spoke turboprop is used in countries including China and Sudan.

 

Aircraft incidents, both civilian and military, are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country. A military helicopter crashed last June in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board.

 

Five military personnel were killed last February after an air force aircraft crashed in the country's capital, Naypyitaw, according to media reports. Two people were killed and 11 injured after a small plane crashed in central Myanmar in 2012.

 

(Reporting By Wa Lone and Shoon Naing; additional reporting by Brenda Goh in SHANGHAI; Writing by Yimou Lee; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-08

[sawadeeken]

I'm just wondering what the seating capacity of that plane is.  It looks quite similar to planes that I fly on, with United Airline that are rated as 48 Passengers (48 seats)........ Just curious............

[smccolley]

I am pretty sure United doesn't fly any chinese planes, I think they have something similar in the Bombardier Q400 turboprop  from Canada

[phantomfiddler]

Chinese made ? Isn,t someone about to buy some Chinese submarines ? Is it too late to warn them ?

[sawadeeken]

6 hours ago, smccolley said:

I am pretty sure United doesn't fly any chinese planes, I think they have something similar in the Bombardier Q400 turboprop  from Canada

Yes indeed, I don't think United has Chinese aircraft........ I didn't say they did....... I said I fly on something that looks similar...........

Indeed, they are Canadian Regional Jets (Not prop but look similar in size)...... I don't know if they still have any of the 'turbo-props' left but I have flown them too........ It gives away my age but I have flown the old tail dragging DC-3's a few times as well..........

But my reference being as how it occurred in (Burma) Myanmar I can just imagine them putting well over a hundred People on a 48 - 52 seater along with a couple tons of freight............ (Similar to the Philippines and their Ferries)......