Vietnam’s budget and privately-owned carrier VietJet Air and nine individuals were subject Tuesday to fines of dozens of millions of dong for their involvement in what is an unprecedented wrong-airport landing scandal last month. The aviation inspectors levied a VND40 million (US$1,883) civil penalty on the low-cost carrier, while the fines of the nine aviation employees range from VND7.5 million ($353) to VND20 million ($941). The penalties were applied in accordance with the conclusion of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam on the mistaken landing of the air carrier, according to the inspectors. VietJet Air flight VJ8575 departed from Hanoi and landed at Cam Ranh International Airport in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa on June 19, while it was supposed to fly the passengers to Da Lat City in the Central Highlands. The flight’s destination had been switched from Cam Ranh to Da Lat at the last minute, but the Czech captain had not been informed of the change. The VND40 million fine imposed on VietJet Air is the highest possible civil penalty for wrongdoings in the civil aviation sector. The airline was fined for assigning Dinh Manh Cuong, an unlicensed air coordinator, to perform duty in the working shift at Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport when the Airbus A320 with around 200 passengers onboard left for Da Lat. Hoang Xuan Duong, deputy head of the VietJet Air flight operation center, was fined VND20 million for assigning Cuong on the post. Do Anh Tuan, another VietJet Air air coordinator, was fined VND15 million ($700) for covering up the incident. Amin Hassiri, the first officer of the flight, was subject to a VND7.5 million penalty for signing the flying plan without carefully reading it, leading to his failure to notice the changed plan. A similar punishment was slapped on captain Pavel Ondrej for failing to update the flying plan and discuss it with the crewmembers before departure. Phan Thi Huong Trang, a VietJet Air chief flight attendant, was subject to a VND7.5 million penalty for her failure to discuss plans with the aircrew before departure, leading to the wrong-airport landing as the captain was misinformed. Another VND7.5 million fine was levied on flight dispatcher Chu Thanh Liem, also a VietJet Air employee, for not informing crewmembers of the altered flying plan, especially the captain, of VietJet Air flight VJ8575. Three aviation employees at Noi Bai airport were also fined VND7.5 million and VND10 million ($471) for their negligence in completing the pre-flight procedures, leading to the mistaken landing. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 08:45:00 +0000
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