The aviation authority of Vietnam has imposed a 12-month flight ban on a passenger who uttered the word ‘grenade’ aboard a Vietnam Airlines flight one week ago.

The passenger, identified as 36-year-old Nguyen Thanh Ph. hailing from Ho Chi Minh City’s Nha Be District, will be banned from flying from July 30 this year to July 29 next year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

As his in-flight ‘grenade’ claim affected civil aviation operations, the passenger is also subject to mandatory visual inspection when flying over a course of six months from July 30, 2025 to January 29, 2026.

The CAAV asked local and foreign carriers with flights departing from Vietnamese airports not to transport this passenger during the said period.

Management authorities of airports nationwide must check personal documents of passengers to timely prevent Nguyen Thanh Ph. from flying when the ban is in place, the national aviation authority added.

Previously, the passenger made the ‘grenade’ claim on the Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh City flight VN 131, initially scheduled to take off at 3:25 pm on July 21.

After the passenger uttered the phrase 'grenade in the suitcase,' a crew member immediately alerted the airport’s aviation security center at 3:15 pm.

A team of airport agencies rushed to the scene to get the passengers deplaned and conduct a thorough search of the aircraft as well as all of the passengers’ baggage from 4:10 pm to 4:40 pm, but they did not find any suspicious objects.

At around 4:45 pm, the Middle Airports Authority agreed with a representative of Vietnam Airlines on allowing the passengers to return to the plane.

The flight departed at 5:15 pm the same day.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Ph. was handed over to the Middle Airports Authority for further steps.

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