A search and rescue team has found the wreckage of the missing air force Huey helicopter in a deep valley adjoining Chanthaburi and Rayong provinces, with all three crew members dead at the crash site, according to media reports.
The UH-1H helicopter went missing on Saturday afternoon over the Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park in the adjoining Rayong's Khao Chamao district and Chanthaburi's Kaeng Hang Maew district after delivering supplies from Don Mueang airport in Bangkok to a radar station on Khao Chamao mountain.
The search team reached the crash site on foot at 10.23am, about 500 metres northwest of the radar station on the Rayong side of the adjoining area.
All three crew members were found dead at the site. They were Sqn Ldr Pasith Techasen, the pilot, Capt Alongkorn Chankrachang, the co-pilot, and Sgt Maj Visut Puttharaksa, the mechanic.
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The bodies would be moved to tambon Phawa in Chanthaburi's Kaeng Hang Maew district .
Siamrath Online reported that ACM Suthipong Inseeyong, commander of the Air Operations Control Department, issued a statement confirming the missing helicopter had been found.
He said after the bodies reached a location yet to be identified by the search team, they would be flown to Don Mueang airport immediately to be picked up by their relatives for religious rites.
The cause of the crash would be further investigated, said ACM Suthipong.