VietNamNet Bridge - A flight of budget air carrier Vietjet Air was scheduled to go to Da Lat but it ended up at the Cam Ranh airport in Khanh Hoa province.



{keywords}




The incident, first of its kind in Vietnam, occured on June 19, affecting approximately 200 passengers on flight VJ8861. The airline said it had arranged a flight to take these passengers to Da Lat.

On the evening of June 16, officials of VietJet Air and the national air transportation body met to consider the incident. A source from the management agency said experts are reviewing all related factors, including the flight procedures, the pilots, the air traffic controllers, the ground officers, and the other factors.

It is suspected that VJ8861 flight to Da Lat was scheduled to take off very close to another flight to Cam Ranh so the related bodies mistook the two flights. The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) confirmed this is a serious flight operation, and it has immediately opened an investigation to determine the cause.

After collecting evidence and documents, the investigation team has released the initial conclusion: the flight control staff, the flight crew and attendants of Vietjet Air did not comply the flight process.

The CAAV has suspended the license validity of the flight control staff of Vietjet Air at the Noi Bai Airport and the entire crew (including pilots and flight attendants) of the flight VJ8861.

Vietjet Air explained that VJ8861 flight that was scheduled to depart at 5.10pm from Hanoi to Da Lat had to change the itinerary for the reason that the wind in Da Lat was strong so the pilot asked for the autorities' permission to land at the Cam Ranh airport, waiting for good weather to fly to Da Lat.

"This is a peculiar situation of the aviation industry, which has occurred with many domestic and international airlines. Some aircraft have departed but could not land and had to return to the airport of departure. In some cases, the aircraft had to land at a nearby airport to wait for nice weather to continue the journey," the airline said.

S. Tung