A Chinese man was caught on camera trying to steal from a passenger’s hand luggage on a Vietnam Airlines (VNA) flight on Jan. 19.

VNA’s check-in staff had previously paid attention to two suspicious Chinese passengers Zhang Giang and Ren Guanghan, both 41, who would later board flight number 600 from Bangkok to HCMC, according to Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) Newspaper.

After that, they secretly informed the flight crew about the two passengers. When the duo were on the flight, a flight attendant found Zhang Giang who was on seat number 31A and Ren Guanghan on 25C seat switching positions.

During the flight, Zhang Giang stood up to take a piece of luggage from the overhead locker and put it on his seat. After searching inside it thoroughly, he put it back onto the locker. All of his actions were caught on the camera of a flight attendant.   Zhang confessed on the flight that the luggage he took was not his but belonged to a passenger on the 31C seat. The owner then checked his luggage and found his iPhone lying on the plane’s floor.

The flight crew made a report about this case under the witness of an Israel passenger and an Italian one. Zhang was held by local police upon his arrival at Tan Son Nhat international airport.

Three days earlier, the same flight attendant who helped uncover Zhang’s crime also caught red-handed another Chinese stealing US$700 in cash on another flight - VN630 from Indonesia to HCMC on January 16.

Vietnam Airlines gives priority to crime prevention since police in Hong Kong have issued warnings about thefts on some flight routes to the special administrative region.

As a result, the national flag carrier busted 18 cases in 2012. It recorded a significant drop in the number of crimes in 2013. 

Vietnam Airlines advises their passengers on flights to China, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia to keep a close watch on their hand luggage and not to put them in the wrong place.