Vietjet plane lands on wrong runway at Cam Ranh Airport

The plane carrying 163 passengers took off at 11:14 a.m. from Cam Ranh International Airport in the south central coast to Ho Chi Minh City.

Several minutes after takeoff, a technical alarm forced the captain to bring the plane back to Cam Ranh Airport. However, it landed on an unauthorized runway, a mistake similar to one committed by a Vietnam Airlines plane at the same airport last April.

Weather conditions were optimal and all systems were fully functional at the point of landing, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said Tuesdsay.

No passenger or crew member was hurt by the landing mistake. Another flight was arranged for all passengers to continue their journey.

The incident was deemed "serious," second only to aviation accidents in Vietnam's classification of errors, prompting the CAAV to suspend the flight crew pending further investigation.

The CAAV has also decided not to allow an increase in the number of flights by the budget air carrier to the country’s major airports like Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Cam Ranh and Da Nang before a thorough inspection on its operational processes is carried out.

The Cam Ranh International Airport has two runways, only one of which is active. The other had completed construction but was not operational yet.

Vietnam currently requires markings only for runways that are already in use. No markings are needed for those still under construction.

Following the Vietnam Airlines incident, the CAAV has suggested changes to the regulations to prevent similar incidents in the future, including the marking of unused runways.

Vietnam’s aviation industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The country served 106 million air passengers this year, up 12.9 percent from last year and highest of all time.