Myanmar crashed plane, bodies found Spokesman

Ships and planes were pressed into service on the coast of southern Myanmar after a military aircraft vanished over the Andaman Sea with 122 soldiers, family members and crew on board were able to locate the wreckage of a plane in the Andaman Sea that went missing. “We have found the plane and some dead bodies this morning about 8.25am (0155 GMT),” a spokesman for the military’s information team said.

Three bodies, including two adults and a child, were found by a navy ship 35 km (22 miles) from the southern costal town of Launglon, the military said.

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik at 1:06 p.m (0636 GMT), on Wednesday heading north to Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, 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.

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.