An aircraft of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has had its tailplane damaged after landing in the north-central province of Nghe An from Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.
The left edge of the horizontal stabilizer of the Airbus A321 was distorted and partly torn shortly after its arrival at Vinh Airport yesterday morning.
The incident was detected after the plane was towed to the airport’s apron.
The damage was likely caused during the aircraft’s pushback, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The issue left the plane unable to travel from Vinh City to Ho Chi Minh City as planned.
The carrier scheduled an alternative flight for passengers at 6:00 pm the same day.
Relevant agencies are investigating the case, according to Northern Airports Authority.
In a related development on Tuesday, the Southern Airports Authority has urged police to find and penalize those who direct laser beams at the cockpits of planes at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
There have been 12 reported cases at the Ho Chi Minh City airport so far this year.
Similar incidents have previously occurred at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi in early June, with the sources of the lasers remaining unknown, according to a recent report by the Vietnamese aviation watchdog.
With the act severely threatening flight safety, the National Committee of Civil Aviation Security has requested that the Anti-Terrorism Authority in Hanoi adopt measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!