Stair car crashes into Airbus plane at Ho Chi Minh City airport
Saturday, September 12, 2015, 12:39 GMT+7
A stair car on Friday ran into the wing of a plane operated by Jetstar Pacific, in the latest collision between a ground service vehicle and an aircraft in Vietnam.
The Jetstar Pacific flight BL570 was about to taxi at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City this morning when the stair car hit its left wing and damaged its tip.
The flight bound for the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot at 6:55 am was thus delayed and passengers had to leave the aircraft to wait for its repairs.
A Jetstar Pacific representative confirmed that the ground service vehicle is also under its management, adding the wing of the Airbus plane was only slightly damaged.
The airline asserted that the accident was not serious and it took only two to three hours to fix the components with support from the French planemaker’s technical team.
Jetstar Pacific CEO Le Hong Ha said the flight was expected to depart at 9:30 am the same day.
The Friday incident is the second crash between a ground service vehicle and an airplane at Tan Son Nhat in a fortnight.
On August 27, a China Airlines flight bound for Taipei was canceled after an aircraft belt loader collided with the plane shortly prior to takeoff.
The belt loader, a truck that carries a belt from which luggage is loaded onto aircraft, crashed into the door of the Airbus A330’s cargo bay and tore it off.
The vehicle was operated by the Tan Son Nhat International Airport Ground Service Co. and driven by Truong Van Toan, who later admitted he mistook the accelerator for the brake when approaching the aircraft to load luggage, which led to the crash.
On August 7, a similar incident occurred at Da Nang International Airport, where a private plane bringing passengers from Hong Kong to the central Vietnamese city had one of its wings ripped off in a collision with an airport cargo cart.
The CL350 aircraft was sitting on the tarmac awaiting passengers for the return flight to Hong Kong when a baggage truck crashed into its left wing.
The aircraft was pushed to the left for about 20cm after the collision, whereas its left wing was left with a 30cm-long mark.
