Tiếng Việt
普通话
The Ministry of Transport today, December 27, called a meeting over Vietjet’s two recent aviation safety incidents: the landing on December 25 of a plane on an inactive runway at Cam Ranh International Airport in Nha Trang City and the loss of two wheels of the nose landing gear of a jetliner in a landing at Buon Ma Thuot airport in Daklak Province November 29.
Thang said that the landing on the wrong runway at Cam Ranh had resulted from pilot error. The Filipino pilot had been distracted by a technical alarm which forced the captain to concentrate on whether the nose landing gear was working, instead of which runway to land.
Air traffic controllers detected the mistake and reminded the captain of the direction he needed to take, but he and first officer failed to change course, landing instead on a new runway that has yet to be put into operation.
The captain had earlier said that as the runway was wide and empty, he had decided to attempt a landing there.
Regarding the Buon Ma Thuot crash landing, the incident resulted from the nose landing gear of the aircraft losing its two wheels during a landing. The plane had left HCMC for Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands province of Daklak, with 207 passengers on board. The plane should have landed on its nose landing gear first, instead of the rear landing gear wheels. This led the plane to lose its two front wheels.
Thang stated that CAAV was waiting for the conclusions of the European Aviation Safety Agency, adding that the pilots had turned off the autopilot system too early, resulting in the failure during landing.
Transport Minister Nguyen Van The said that aviation safety should be prioritized, proposing compensation for passengers affected by accidents such as emergency landings.
The also pointed out that it is necessary to review the quality of all aircraft and check the qualifications and skills of pilots, in addition to reviewing the processes of technicians.
The minister confirmed that recent aviation accidents have to be clarified further before they are publicized, and disciplinary penalties will soon be imposed on those involved in these accidents.
In related news, the Ministry of Transport released an ordinance on aviation safety and security, issuing a strict warning to Vietjet over the recent incidents.
Tuoi Tre newspaper cited the ministry as saying that the carrier had seven aviation incidents in the fourth quarter of 2018 on its record, five of which were the result of technical errors and two the result of staff errors.
Consecutive incidents involving Vietjet Air in particular and Vietnamese airlines in general have affected the perception of the country’s quality of aviation services and eroded passengers’ trust.
The Minister of Transport asked CAAV to enhance its examination and supervision of Vietjet’s compliance with regulations and to check the degrees and certificates possessed by captains, first officers and cabin crew to minimize accidents, ensure air traffic safety and security and maintain aviation operations during the upcoming Tet and national holidays.
Further, Vietjet had earlier been put under special supervision at four international airports: HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat, Hanoi’s Noi Bai, Danang and Khanh Hoa’s Cam Ranh.
Also, the budget airline will not be allowed to raise the frequency of its flights to the country’s major airports until the cause of the December 25 incident is determined.
Besides this, the ministry has ordered the carrier to strictly comply with regulations and processes for aviation safety, map out a plan for the maintenance of its aircraft and promptly present effective measures for aviation safety.
Addressing the meeting, Dinh Viet Thang said the authority had formed seven teams for supervising Vietjet’s operations.
Accordingly, the teams will focus on testing the carrier’s aircraft at airports, as well as the planes’ engines; checking tasks executed by staff and crew for flights, including flight plans, ground services and maintenance; supervising processes for ensuring adequate materials, fuel and equipment are on board; and checking the carrier’s steps in training pilots and staff.