The body of a pilot who was in a Russian-made fighter jet that went missing on Tuesday morning has been found.

The SU-30 fighter jet reportedly went down during a training mission with two pilots aboard at 6:50am local time on June 14. It disappeared from radar in the area of Hon Mat island, about 40 km off the coast of the central Nghe An province.

Nguyen Huu Cuong, one of the SU-30’s two pilots, was rescued by local fishermen on Wednesday.

Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Xuan Duong, confirmed that the body found on Friday was that of the other pilot, Tran Quang Khai.

A local fisherman discovered the body which was covered by a parachute near Hon Mat island, according to Vietnam’s state-run radio Voice of Vietnam.

On Thursday, a Vietnamese coastguard plane – CASA C212 – carrying nine crew members lost contact while searching for the SU-30 jet and Tran Quang Khai in waters off northern Vietnam.

Vietnamese authorities recovered some debris they claim belong to the CASA aircraft on Friday morning.

On the same day, China deployed ships in response to a request from Vietnam to help find the missing plane.

Some debris from the coastguard plane have since been recovered while the seach for the aircraft’s nine missing people continues.

– TiVi Tuan-san