Stair truck hits Vietnam Airlines plane at Tan Son Nhat airport
Tuesday, August 27, 2019, 10:43 GMT+7
A Boeing jet belonging to national carrier Vietnam Airlines was holed by a stair truck as it was about to serve a Osaka-bound flight at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City last week.
The incident occurred at 11:10 pm on August 21, involving a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that was scheduled to be operated for flight VN320 from the southern metropolis to the Japanese city of Osaka, according to the Southern Airports Authority.
The long-haul airliner was parked at the airport when it was hit by a stair truck of the Vietnam Airport Ground Services Co. Ltd. (VIAGS), driven by L.D.B.
The crash left a hole, measuring 20 centimeters in both width and length, in the body of the jet.
The incident, which was considered a threat to aviation safety, forced Vietnam Airlines to use another Boeing jet of the same model for the Ho Chi Minh City - Osaka flight, according to the management board of Tan Son Nhat.
The stair truck driver and relevant employees were required to make a report on the issue.
The driver also had to take a breath test which found that his blood alcohol content was normal.
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| A hole is seen in the body of a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner following a collision with a stair truck at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, on August 21, 2019. |
B. said the stair truck “automatically changed gear” and moved forward, hitting the airliner, when he was turning his head backward to observe the stairway being lifted to the passenger door of the aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has launched an investigation into the case, while the damaged Boeing has been taken for repair.
This is just the latest in a number of incidents involving ground vehicles and airplanes at airports in Vietnam.
On August 7, 2015, a baggage truck accidentally hit and caused a scratch, which was 30 centimeters long and ten centimeters wide, on the left wing of a plane parked at Da Nang International Airport in the namesake central city.
In the same month that year, a belt loader collided with the door of the baggage compartment on an Airbus A330 operated by Taiwanese carrier China Airlines, making a dent, 20 cm in depth and one meter in length in the airplane’s body, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.
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