Vietnam Air Force helicopter crashes in HCMC, killing 4 soldiers Sear and rescue work underway near the site where a Vietnam Air Force helicopter was believed to have crashed on the morning of January 28, 2015. Photo: Doc Lap  A Vietnam Air Force helicopter crashed in Ho Chi Minh City just minutes after take-off this morning, killing all four crew members, a military general has confirmed. Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Army, said the Vietnam War era UH-1 Iroquois helicopter crashed in the city's Binh Chanh District during a training flight. All four crew members on board were killed in the crash, he said. News website VnExpress cited a district official as saying that the helicopter, well known as the Huey, crashed in a local farm. LA US-made UH-1 Iroquois helicopter of Vietnam Air Force in a file photo taken in 2014. It fell off the radar just 8 minutes after taking off at Tan Son Nhat Airport after 7 a.m. “Around eight minutes after they took off, the air control station could no longer contact with the crew,” Tuoi Tre quoted general Tuan as saying. Vietnam seized about 50 UH-1 "Hueys" from the US-backed South Vietnam army after the country's reunification in 1975. Local media reported last year that 14 of them were still operational. Last July,  a Russian-made Mi-171 chopper crashed on the outskirts of Hanoi during a training exercise, leaving 20 soldiers on board dead and another injured.  Thanh Nien News