Third Vietnam Airlines plane in week makes emergency landing
A Vietnam Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Hanoi, the third technical mishap in less than a week involving the trouble-plagued state carrier, an official said Tuesday.
The Airbus A320 plane, bound for the Hue, had to return to Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport 15 minutes after its takeoff Monday due to vibration and strange noise, according to airline spokesman Nguyen Tan Chan.
No one was injured and the 147 passengers were transferred to another A320 aircraft, which safely landed in Hue later on Monday.
"We are investigating," Chan said. "This is the third time in less than a week a Vietnam Airlines plane has had to make an emergency landing."
On Saturday, a domestic flight from Dien Bien Phu was cancelled after the ATR72 aircraft suffered an engine fire on the runway.
Also Saturday, a Seoul-bound flight from Hanoi was forced to return to the runway shortly after takeoff for unspecified technical reasons.
Vietnam Airlines also saw two other emergency landings in January, dashing hopes that the state carrier - which replaced its director January 1 after a series of scandals last year - would see its luck change in 2007.
Nguyen Sy Hung, Vietnam Airlines' new director, has said the problems may be caused by a too-heavy flight schedule for planes and says the airline is now examining its timetable.
Vietnam Airlines had a turbulent year in 2006, with a series of scandals, including allegations that it paid millions of dollars for the wrong kind of engines for its jets and that some of its staff have been involved in drug and cigarette smuggling operations.
In April last year one of its planes was nearly shot down over the Czech Republic because the pilots failed to answer calls from air traffic controllers.
At the time there were suggestions that the men had been asleep, although they were later cleared of that allegation by an official investigation.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - February 6, 2007.
Vietnam Airlines denies aircraft overuse cause of mishaps
Vietnam Airlines has denied that the recent minor mishaps involving its aircraft had to do with shortage or increased use of the airplanes, contradicting an explanation offered by a top aviation official.
It does not appear yet to have nailed the cause of the problems forcing three emergency landings and suspension of one flight though it has contacted aircraft manufacturers Airbus and ATR and queried if weather changes could affect aircraft.
But the carrier said the incidents had been brought “under control” and according to procedures. All its pilots were trained to tackle such incidents to ensure passengers’ safety.
Lai Xuan Thanh, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, had suggested recently that the mishaps were caused by increased use of aircraft to meet surging demand ahead of Tet, the Lunar New Year.
On January 25 an Airbus A320-311 leaving Ho Chi Minh City for Hanoi made an emergency landing shortly after take-off due to a loss of cockpit pressure.
On February 3 an ATR 72-B112 flight was suspended minutes before taking off from Dien Bien for Hanoi after a fire alarm went off. The cause is being investigated.
The same day an Airbus A330 from Hanoi to South Korea’s Seoul was forced to make an emergency landing due to a glitch in the pressurization system.
On February 5 another Airbus A320-306 was forced to return 30 minutes after taking off from Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport due to abnormal vibrations and a noise in the cabin.
But its safety record has been excellent with the Ministry of Transport saying on its official website that the carrier has not had an accident or fatality in the last 10 years.
Last year the airlines carried over 6.8 million passengers, 3.1 million of them on international routes.
Thanh Nien / VietnamNet - February 6, 2007.
|