Three army officers on board a U-17 reconnaissance plane which crashed in Mae Hong Son province on Thursday afternoon (July 5) were killed while another was seriously injured, according to media reports.
The four-set, single-engine plane took off from Mae Hong Son airport at 10.56 am on Thursday on a routine surveillance mission. It later disappeared from the radar screen as it was about 20 miles to the north of the airport.
Lt-Gen Vichak Siribansop, the 3rd Army Region commander, ordered a plane to be flown to try to locate the missing U-17. The pilot later reported the sighting of smoke billowing from a spot near Ban Huey Pon, Tambon Huey Pha in Muang district of Mae Hong Son.
A team of ground troops was also dispatched for a search. They arrived at the spot at 8.33pm on Thursday night and found three of the soldiers on board the plane had died. They were Lt Naruphol Pookthong, Lt Virote Plangkrathok, and Lt Khemarat Duangkaew.
The other officer, Chief Warrant Officer Natchanan Khuenkaew was seriously injured. He was rushed to the hospital.
army plane crash, Mae Hong Son,
