Air traffic control crew suspended for Thai plane’s near-collision at Noi Bai Airport

A representative of CAAV on Wednesday requested the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation to suspend the team in charge on the day of the incident.

On June 24, the AIQ645 plane of Thai AirAsia rolled towards the 11R runway, preparing to take off to Thailand’s Bangkok. At the same time, the VJC943 of Vietjet was about to land on the 11L runway, which runs parallel with the 11R runway.

The air traffic control crew had requested for the Thai plane to hold and not take off, and allowed the Vietjet plane to cut through the 11R runway to reach the S8 runway and go into the parking space.

However, the Thai AirAsia crew did not fully repeat the instruction from the air traffic control crew, so its plane was still running to prepare for takeoff. The air traffic control crew did not detect this.

The Thai AirAsia plane thus was still running on the 11R runway, just as the VJC943 was cutting through it.

The Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation said it was only informed of the incident about a week later by the Northern Air Management Company.

According to reports from the Thai AirAsia crew, as their plane was departing from the ground, it was located about 1,500 m away from the Vietjet plane. They eventually did not crash into each other.

Aviation experts said that at a distance of 1,500 m, a plane about to take off and a plane running on a runway can collide.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is cooperating with all parties to evaluate the scale of the incident and find measures to prevent similar issues.