A chief air traffic controller responsible for two airplanes that almost collided at Da Nang International Airport last month has been suspended, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said on Friday.

>> Misinformed pilot causes Vietnam plane to land at wrong airport

The fact that Truong Nho Quang, the suspended chief air traffic controller, let an intern supervise the runway at the airport in central Da Nang City was a violation of aviation regulations, the CAAV elaborated.

Quang had his aviation license and certificate revoked, it said.

Under its authority, the CAAV has also asked the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation to suspend the director of the Central Region Air Traffic Services Company for 15 days to review his responsibility in this case.

“The incident seriously threatened aviation safety. If it had not been spotted timely, it would have led to an accident,” the CAAV concluded.

Media reports said that on June 27, intern air traffic controller Truong Nguyen Quynh Anh instructed a Jetstar Pacific airplane to take off from a runway where a Vietnam Airlines plane coming in from Ho Chi Minh City had not leave it yet. When Anh made the instruction for the Jetstar Pacific aircraft to take off from the runway #17L at 13:46:35, a pilot of the Vietnam Airlines plane concurrently informed the air traffic control station that his plane was still on the runway. The two aircraft were about 350 meters apart at that moment, CAAV said. Anh cancelled the take-off order for the Jetstar Pacific airplane four seconds later at 13:46:39.   For her mistake, the intern will not be granted an air control license for at least one year since the incident happened, the CAAV said, adding that she must undergo further training.