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The Vietnam News

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Vietnam Airlines jet overshoots runway.

PHNOM PENH - An airport near Cambodia’s famed Angkor temples was closed today after a Vietnam Airlines jet overshot a runway in adverse weather conditions and plowed into a nearby field, a manager at the facility said.

None of the 98 people aboard the Airbus A320 from Ho Chi Minh City was injured in the accident which occurred yesterday evening at Siem Reap International Airport. However, the plane was lodged in the ground and the airport was shut while technicians tried to drag it out of the way. The plane “moved off the runway after landing under adverse weather conditions,’’ said a statement from Khek Norinda, manager of Cambodia Airport Management Services Ltd., which operates the airport.

“The entire aircraft is stuck into the ground and experts are on the field to remove the A320 by lifting it up and dragging it back on the runway,’’ he said. Ten flights, eight of them international, were canceled late yesterday and the airport was closed. It was partially reopened today for small aircraft, Khek Norinda said. Mao Has Vannal, the head of Cambodia’s civil aviation authority, said they were launching an investigation into the incident.

The Associated Press - July 06, 2005.


Vietnam airlines compensates passengers for incident in Cambodia

HANOI - Vietnam Airlines compensated passengers on board the Airbus A320 that skidded off the runway when it landed at Cambodia's Siem Reap airport on July 5. The national flag carrier initially offered passengers 40 USD each to help them cover essential expenses on July 5 and arranged their accommodation at four-star and five-star hotels in Siem Reap.

No one among the eight-member crew and 90 passengers, mostly European tourists, on board the plane, was injured. The plane took off from Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport. At 8.30 a.m on July 6, Siem Reap airport reopened after the incident. However, it just allowed small aircraft, like ATR 72's and AN 24's, to land, and remained closed to large planes like Airbus A 320's.

Vietnam News Agency - July 07, 2005.