Hundreds of troops and fellow countrymen stood silently grieving as the body of the brave pilot who lost his life in the SU-30 fighter jet crash -- Photos: VNN 

Soldiers stood to attention as Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai was lifted from a gurney draped with white sheets into an ambulance to begin his final journey home to family and friends in Hanoi. -- Photos: VOV

In a brief but passionate memorial service in the early morning hours of June 18 they bade him farewell.

 Colonel Duong Minh Hien, deputy commander of Nghe An Province Military Command said the body has been transferred to the Military Zone 4 Hospital in Vinh City.

He was a talented pilot with a personality that was second to none, said an officer who knew Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Quang Khai personally.

After which, it will be returned to his immediate family in Hanoi.

A fishing boat discovered the body on June 17 at around 6:00 pm tangled in a parachute floating in the waters about 33 nautical miles offshore the province of Thanh Hoa.

Major Nguyen Thanh Thuy, commander in chief of a battalion from Thanh Hoa Hon Mat Island, said it appears Senior Lieutenant Colonel Khai died about two days prior on June 15.

The co-pilot Major Nguyen Huu Cuong was rescued by a fishing boat on June 15, the day after the plane crashed.

Vietnam People's Air Defence - Air Force lost contact with the fighter jet flying offshore Nghe An on June 14.

The jet departed from Tho Xuan Airport in Thanh Hoa Province for routine training but disappeared from radar at 7:29 am on June 14.