Hanoi fires transport inspector for attacking Vietnam Airlines employee

• Transport inspector suspended for attacking Vietnam Airlines employee
• Passengers banned from flying after assaulting Vietnam Airlines employee

Hanoi’s Transport Department has fired an inspector for assaulting a female Vietnam Airlines employee at Noi Bai International Airport, where he missed his flight last Tuesday, in a case that has sparked widespread public outcry.

Dao Vinh Thuan, 37, was sacked for “publicly offending a woman”, the department said on Monday.

Thuan will stop working at the department from November 1, it said.

He and his friend, Tran Duong Tung, were filmed assaulting Nguyen Le Quynh Anh, an employee of Vietnam Airlines who manages a customer service team at the airport, after they arrived at the boarding gate late and were not allowed to board their flight.

Thuan said he and Tung showed up at Noi Bai at 1 p.m. on Tuesday to check-in for a flight departing at 1:55 p.m. to Ho Chi Minh City the same day.

Airport staff at the check-in counter directed them to go to boarding gate number 5 but then other staff told them to queue at boarding gate number 3. The two passengers were informed they had missed their flight when they reached boarding gate number 3 at 1:45 p.m., he said, adding that they returned to the check-in counter to demand an explanation.

They reportedly scolded the staff there.

Anh, who was not wearing a uniform, started to film the exchanges. Thuan asked her to stop and delete the video clip. He said he grabbed her shirt after she refused to delete the clip and was about to run away.

Thuan said he did not attack Anh but Tung admitted to hitting the woman, saying he lost his temper.

A video has gone viral online showing Thuan grabbing her shirt and holding her around the throat while Tung hit her on the head from behind.

Vu Van Vien, director of Hanoi’s Transport Department, said Thuan’s actions had “severely damaged” the image of his colleagues.

Tung has been banned from flying by all carriers for the next 12 months while Thuan was given a six-month ban, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam.

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