Air traffic controllers suspended in the Jetstar plane disappearance case.

Regarding the incident on July 23rd at Vinh Airport where a Jetstar Pacific aircraft was delayed due to communication problems with the control tower, the Northern Air Traffic Control Company has suspended indefinitely the air traffic controllers directly involved in the flight pending an investigation. The chief and deputy chief of the air traffic control tower at Vinh Airport have also been suspended for 15 days for disciplinary review.

Specifically, the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority requested the deployment of one air traffic controller and four air traffic controllers from Noi Bai to Vinh to reinforce the professional training force for controllers there.

A Jetstar Pacific airline aircraft. (Photo: Viet Hung/Vietnam+)

According to Lai Xuan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, the cause of the loss of communication between the flight crew and air traffic control was determined to be due to the air traffic controller's confusion in using the communication equipment and poor handling procedures, leading to a prolonged loss of contact with the flight crew lasting approximately 3 minutes.

“The investigation team verified the incident. After reviewing the cockpit voice recorder and the air traffic control tower recordings, it was determined that this was a one-way communication failure. The error was due to the air traffic controller mistakenly pressing the radio button, causing a disruption in flight operations. Therefore, the control tower issued instructions, but the aircraft could not receive the signal to confirm the landing command,” Director Lai Xuan Thanh stated.

In addition, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority also emphasized that the incident threatened flight safety but was not serious. "The Jetstar Pacific flight crew handled the situation very well by turning the aircraft around and repeating the landing procedure to ensure absolute safety for passengers and compliance with flight operations regulations," the head of the Civil Aviation Authority assessed.

Earlier, on the evening of July 23rd, a Jetstar Pacific aircraft was preparing to land at Vinh Airport, but the flight crew lost contact with the control tower at Vinh Airport, forcing them to circle in the sky a second time and delaying landing by about 10 minutes. The incident caused anxiety among many passengers on board.

Also on June 27th, air traffic control issued incorrect flight instructions at Da Nang International Airport, causing a Vietnam Airlines plane to nearly collide with a Jetstar Pacific plane.

According to VNA