Plane accidentally sends out a hijacking signal after pilot presses wrong button forcing ground crew into state of emergency
- Vietnam Airlines jet was travelling from Ho Chi Minh to Vinh on Tuesday
- Pilots noticed small fault with the plane and requested emergency landing
- Captain pressed hijacking code (7500) instead of emergency code (7700)
- They plane later landed safely at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport at 7:15 pm
A plane forced into an emergency landing because of a technical fault, accidentally sent out a hijacking signal after the pilot pressed the wrong button.
Ground crew mistakenly believed that the Vietnam Airlines jet which had been travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to the northern town of Vinh on Tuesday, was under attack.
It was initially understood that someone had tried to force their way into the pilot’s cockpit.
Ground crew mistakenly believed that the Vietnam Airlines jet which had been travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to the northern town of Vinh on Tuesday, was under attack
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However, it later turned out that Czech captain Pechanec Marek has pressed the hijacking code (7500) instead of the emergency code (7700), inadvertently placing the flight under the state of emergency.
The wrong warning signal sent ground staff scrambling to prepare for a hijacking scenario.
After departing Ho Chi Minh at 5.10pm on Tuesday, the aircraft, with 135 passengers and seven crew members on board, noticed technical problems that led to reduced pressure in the cabin.
The pilots decided to make an emergency landing at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport.
After departing Ho Chi Minh at 5.10pm on Tuesday, the aircraft, with 135 passengers and seven crew members on board, noticed technical problems that led to reduced pressure in the cabin
They plane later landed safely at Noi Bai at 7:15 pm.
Vietnam Airlines reiterated in a statement late Tuesday that that the emergency landing had nothing to do with a hijacking.
Officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam immediately travelled to the airport to order an investigation of the incident.
Pham Quy Tieu, deputy transport minister, has called a meeting at the airport to review the case.
They plane later landed safely at Noi Bai at 7:15 pm. Pham Quy Tieu, deputy transport minister, has called a meeting at the airport to review the case
The incident comes weeks after Vietnam Airlines fined two female passengers for causing a scene over a male passenger on a Friday night flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi.
One of the women, the man's ex-lover, allegedly slapped her rival, the man’s wife, in the face.
Just minutes before the plane took off, the two rivals began hurling insults at one another in front of shocked passengers before they then began attacking one another.
An airport security team were forced to board the plane and take the group off the aircraft.
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