Khanh accidentally became a pilot cadet of the Air Force Officer Training School when he was 19. During his training time, he has piloted Helicopters Mi-8, Mi-17 and became the first-level pilot for special-purposed airplanes.

In 1988, he was assigned to operate flights of Russian helicopters’ Mi-series to carry people and cargo to oil platforms and vessels of Vietsovpetro (a joint Russian-Vietnamese enterprise for oil and gas exploration).

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Senior Colonel Khanh standing aside an helicopter

When VNHS bought new helicopter generations from the Europe, the company also provided training courses, including English, for its pilots and technical staff. Khanh spent three years learning the foreign language with high determination and working hard because he was aware  that  English would  help him  learn how to fly  new aircraft.

After finishing the civil aviation authority training course at the Vietnam Aviation Academy with good results, he was sent to France to further his flying skills. Khanh actively studied standard operational platforms and learned and experienced a lot from his foreign counterparts. Then, he became a trainer on several planes such as Puma SA 330J, Super Puma L2, EC155, and EC22 and provided training course for many pilots of the company.

According to Senior Colonel Nguyen Xuan Boi, Deputy-Director of VNHS, Khanh is an experienced pilot with over 16,000 safe flight hours, thus he has won trust  of the company’s leadership when they assigned him to important missions. He was also proactive in helping his young colleagues develop flying skills and complete themselves, the officer said,

Although Khanh has been through many positions at the company, his only desire is to fly with his comrade so that he could make his most contribution to protecting the airspace of the Fatherland.

Translated by Trung Thanh