Vietnam Airlines accidents and incidents

This is a list of incidents and accidents that Vietnam Airlines has experienced in the last 37 years:

Fatal incidents

• 3 September 1997: Vietnam Airlines Flight 815, a Tupolev Tu-134 (built in 1984) crashed on approach to Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport, killing 65 of the 66 passengers on board. The aircraft was entirely destroyed. The aircraft was flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. The Tupolev was approaching the Phnom Penh airport runway in heavy rain from 2,000 meters; at this point the control tower ordered the pilot to attempt an approach from the west due to a wind pick-up. The crew then lost communication with the tower, and three minutes later the aircraft collided at low level with trees, damaging the left wing. The aircraft then slid 200 yards into a dry rice paddy before exploding. Pilot error was later identified as the cause of the crash; the pilot continued his landing descent from an altitude of 2,000 meters to 30 meters even though the runway was not in sight, and ignored pleas from his first officer and flight engineer to turn back. When the aircraft hit the trees, the pilot finally realized the runway was not in sight and tried to abort the approach; the flight engineer pushed for full power, but the aircraft lost control and veered left; the right engine then stalled, making it impossible to gain lift.
• 14 November 1992: Flight VN474, a Yakovlev Yak-40 (built in 1976), registration VN-A449, originating in Ho Chi Minh City with 31 passengers on board crashed while approaching the Nha Trang Airport in a tropical storm. There were 30 deaths; the only survivor was a Dutch woman, Annette Herfkens. The aircraft was entirely destroyed.
• 9 September 1988: Flight VN831, a Tupolev Tu-134 (built in 1978), registration VN-A102, departed from Hanoi with 81 passengers aboard and crashed while on approach to Bangkok. There were 76 fatalities and the aircraft was entirely destroyed. The aircraft apparently flew into a heavy thunderstorm and was struck by lightning. The aircraft then exploded after it crashed into a field 4 mi/6 km short of Don Mueang International Airport.

Non-fatal incidents

Here are a number of non-fatal incidents:

• 14 January 2011, a Vietnam Airlines flight was struck by a catering truck while taxiing for takeoff at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The crew decided to abort takeoff due to damage to the undercarriage. Aircraft hit by catering truck
• October 21, 2010: Flight VN535, a Boeing 777-200ER, experienced severe turbulence over Russia during a Paris-bound flight. Of the 222 passengers and 15 crew members on board, 21 were injured. Nine of those were hospitalised following landing at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
• 30 July 2008: A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 777-200ER registration No. VND950, landed safely at Narita International Airport and then the left engine caught fire and emergency crews had to come to put out the fire, no one was injured. The plane is now with a new engine and flew safely back to Vietnam on 20 November 2008.
• 17 April 2006: Pilots flying a Boeing 777 from Hanoi to Frankfurt lost communication with ground control for more than an hour as the aircraft flew over Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic. After Czech air traffic controllers tried unsuccessfully to contact the plane for 25 minutes, the Czech Air Force sent two jet fighters to flank the airliner. The pilots then realized their mistake and turned the communications system on. The pilots were suspended by the airline and made to undergo more training before they could fly again. It is also been said but denied that the pilots had fallen asleep and the crew are supposed to check on them every fifteen minutes, but they did not.
• 29 October 2004: A main landing tire burst Airbus A321 after take-off from Bangkok. The aircraft landed in Hanoi on a runway lined with foam. The ATC tower reported smoke coming from the main landing gear. The aircraft was evacuated on the runway. There were no reported injuries.
• 22 August 2002: An Airbus A320 was forced to make an emergency landing after a bird struck the cockpit window. The mishap occurred shortly after takeoff, and the aircraft was able to safely make an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Passengers were delayed approximately one hour while another aircraft was brought in.
• 19 July 2002: An Airbus A320, en route from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, aborted landing after a tire burst while the aircraft was taxiing out to the runway. No injuries were reported.
• 12 September 1998: A Boeing 767 skidded off the runway during takeoff at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft. Passengers had to evacuate via emergency chutes. Authorities have been unable to determine the cause of this incident. Several passengers claimed that they saw sparks coming from the engine as it was taxiing down the runway.
• 16 November 1996: A Vietnam Airlines Tupolev Tu-134, registration VN-A114, crashed at Da Nang. The aircraft veered onto the left runway when its landing gear collapsed upon landing.
• 23 December 1994: A Yakovlev Yak-40 skidded off the runway in bad weather and low visibility at Lien Khuong Airport in Da Lat town; only one of its 18 passengers was hurt. The flight originated from Ho Chi Minh City.
• 25 November 1994: A Tupolev Tu-134 with 40 passengers crashed on landing at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, when its landing gear collapsed. There were no casualties but the aircraft suffered major damage.
• 1 December 1991: A Tupolev Tu-134, registration VN-A126, with 76 passengers on board crashed on final approach to Ho Chi Minh City. At 30 feet (9 meters) the Tupolev suddenly lost height and landed hard, touching down with the left main gear first. There were no casualties but the aircraft was entirely destroyed.

Hijackings and threats

• In December 2010, Vietnamese police arrested Nguyen Bang Viet, a former Vietnam Airlines employee, for allegedly sending text messages to other employees about a bomb planted in October 2010 on a Hanoi–Siem Reap flight. This prompted VNA to cancel the flight.
• 4 September 1992: Ly Tong, a former pilot in the South Vietnamese air force hijacked an Airbus A310-300 operating as Flight VN850 with 167 occupants on board en route from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City. He then dropped anti-communist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City before parachuting out. Vietnamese security forces later arrested him on the ground. The aircraft landed safely, and no one on board was injured. The hijacker was released from a Hanoi prison in 1998.
• 28 October 1977: Four armed Vietnamese hijackers seeking asylum in Singapore seized a Douglas DC-3 en route from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc Island with 32 passengers on board. Two of the six crew members were killed and a third was wounded before the aircraft was forced to land in Singapore. The hijackers surrendered after negotiating with Singapore officials for five hours.