[Update below] Early yesterday, passengers on VietJet flight 8861 bound for Dalat instead found themselves at Nha Trang’s Cam Ranh Airport.
The mishap occurred when ground services at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport confused the two flights due to their similar number of passengers and flight numbers (VJ8861 to Dalat and VJ8575 to Nha Trang).
VietJet later back peddled on their initial explanation, instead saying that the plane’s pilot found landing conditions in Dalat to be unfavorable and instead requested clearance to land in Nha Trang.
By the end of the day, the airline managed to get the passengers to their intended destination.
A similar but less serious incident occurred on May 1st, when a Nha Trang – Ho Chi Minh City flight almost took off for Hanoi. Fortunately, unlike yesterday's flight, the error was identified and corrected just before takeoff.
It’s been a tough year for the Vietnamese aviation industry with flight attendants being arrested for goods smuggling, passengers opening emergency doors and frequent in-flight robberies.
[Nguoi Lao Dong // Photo via Blue Stahli Luan]
Update 23/6:
The flight crew and flight coordinators who are responsible for the mix up have been suspended for failure to follow "due process."
"Ho Minh Tan, head of The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam’s (CAAV) Department of Flight Safety Standards, who leads the investigation, said VietJet Air had changed its flight schedule but the flight coordinators failed to inform the pilot of the change."
The CAAV told the press that investigations are still underway to determine the parties at fault and will dole out punishments accordingly.
