Drone intrusion disrupts 60 flights at Tan Son Nhat Airport, passengers wait overnight

Chaos as flight delays pile up at the airport

According to observations by Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper reporters, from the evening until 11:00 pm, the flight information board in the Terminal 3 arrival hall continued to show dozens of flights as 'delayed.'

Flights departing from Pleiku, Chu Lai, Hai Phong, Cam Ranh, Hanoi, and Quy Nhon between 5:35 pm and 7:45 pm, and scheduled to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City between 6:40 pm and 10 pm, were unable to land as scheduled.

Beneath the electronic board, relatives and travel company staff repeatedly checked their phones, messaging passengers to ask whether they had departed and when they were expected to arrive.

Each time a flight status changed, people would stand up to check the board before returning to their seats to continue waiting.

Tram was traveling from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City with her young child and elderly mother. Their flight was scheduled to depart at 5:00 pm but it was repeatedly delayed, leaving them waiting for more than three hours.

"The airline told us the airport had temporarily stopped accepting incoming flights. By the time we landed at Tan Son Nhat, it was after 10:30 pm. My elderly mother and young child were both exhausted," Tram said.

A family on Vietnam Airlines flight VN7393 from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City also endured a prolonged journey after their aircraft was unable to land at Tan Son Nhat and was diverted to Can Tho.

"We were still sitting on the plane waiting. We were told we would have to wait in Can Tho for about 45 minutes to an hour," one passenger said.

Some flights were diverted to Can Tho or Cam Ranh, both hundreds of kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. 

The changes disrupted passengers' travel plans as well as pick-up arrangements made by relatives and travel companies.

Take-offs and landings at Tan Son Nhat were suspended twice on Tuesday afternoon and evening after pilots reported spotting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, near the airport.

The first suspension began at 6:28 pm. Flight operations resumed at 7:16 pm but were suspended again at 7:40 pm after air traffic authorities received information about a UAV west-southwest of the airport.

Tan Son Nhat resumed operations at 8:34 pm.

60 flights ffected

In an update at 11:00 pm, authorities said a total of 60 flights had been affected during the two periods when take-offs and landings were suspended, compared with an initial figure of 19 flights reported by air traffic management authorities.

Of the 60 affected flights, 23 were diverted to alternate airports, 18 were held in the air, and 16 were held on the ground awaiting departure.

"Three flights requested priority landing after their fuel levels fell following extended periods of holding. The airport then activated its emergency response plan across the relevant units," the source said.

Assessing the impact of the incident, an aviation expert estimated that with an average of about 200 passengers per flight, the 60 affected flights could have disrupted roughly 12,000 passenger journeys.

While the figure is only an estimate and not an official count, it illustrates the extent to which the incident disrupted flight operations and passengers' travel.

First UAV intrusion prompts review meeting on August 12

At 9:00 am on Wednesday, relevant agencies were scheduled to meet with the runway safety committee to review their response to the incident and draw lessons from it.

The Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) said it was the first time a UAV had entered the restricted airspace around Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

In addition to suspending take-offs and landings, VATM activated an air traffic flow management plan for flights scheduled to operate at Tan Son Nhat to limit knock-on disruptions.

The agency said the measures were applied cautiously and only under established procedures when there was a potential threat to flight safety. 

Operations resumed once safety conditions had been secured.

Vietnam Airlines said it was working to restore its flight schedule to normal while ensuring safety and serving passengers.

Vietjet forecast that delays could continue overnight as it rearranged aircraft and crew schedules.