A plane departing from Ho Chi Minh City for the north-central town of Vinh had to reroute to Hanoi on Tuesday due to technical problems, a Vietnam Airlines spokesman said, but wrong warning signal sent by the captain triggered fears of hijacking.
Le Truong Giang, the airline spokesman, dismissed information that the flight had been hijacked as reported earlier.
Earlier, media reports including Vietnam News Agency quoted an unidentified source as saying that someone had tried to force his/her way into the cockpit, forcing the plane to reroute to Hanoi.
Vietnam Airlines reiterated in a statement late Tuesday that that the emergency landing had nothing to do with hijacking.
A file photo shows a Vietnam Airlines airplane being refueled at Noi Bai Airport.
It said due to technical problems that led to reduced pressure, the pilots had to make the emergency landing at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport. But when the plane descended from the height of 35,000 feet to 13,00 feet, the Czech captain, Pechanec Marek, pressed the hijacking code (7500) instead of the emergency code (7700), inadvertently placing the plight under the state of emergency.
The wrong warning signal consequently send the ground contingency forces scrambling to brace for hijacking situation.
The plane, with 135 passengers and seven crew members on board, landed safely at Noi Bai at 7:15 pm.
Officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam rushed to the airport to instruct investigative work.
Pham Quy Tieu, deputy transport minister, has called a meeting at the airport to review the case.
News website VnExpress quoted airport authorities as saying that the pilots have been questioned to account for the emergency landing of the plane.
Currently, Vietnam Airlines operates three flights from HCMC to Vinh, the capital town of Nghe An Province, on a daily basis. The flight in trouble was the last of the day, taking off at 5:10 pm and scheduled to land in Vinh at 6:55 pm.
TO BE UPDATED…
Đăng ký: VietNam News
