Unauthorized drone disrupts flights over Da Nang

Around 6:20 pm, several planes scheduled to land in Da Nang had to delay their descent, circling repeatedly until clearance was given.

A passenger aboard Vietnam Airlines flight HVN189 from Hanoi said the aircraft departed at 5:40 pm but was unable to land as planned, eventually touching down at 7:45 pm, nearly an hour late.

Authorities confirmed that the disruption was caused by a drone operating illegally in restricted airspace.

Air traffic controllers immediately implemented conditional landing procedures, requiring pilots to wait until the skies were deemed safe.

Normal operations resumed at about 7:15 pm.

This incident follows a series of similar violations.

During the recent Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, officials reported three separate cases of drones intruding into the airport’s take-off and landing zones, raising concerns about aviation safety.

Last Tuesday morning, the first day of the Tet festival, flight HVN112/A321 spotted a drone flying at about 3,800 feet, or 1,158 meters, near the Thu Bon River south of the airport.

Later that afternoon, flight N125YU/GA7C RCSS-VVDN observed another drone at around 1,200 feet, or 365.76 meters in the same area.

Together, the two incidents disrupted 30 flights.

On Sunday, flight VJC720/A321 VVDN-VVCI detected a drone at 1,700 feet, or 518.16 meters, to the right of the aircraft. 

This intrusion directly affected 19 flights, with nine planes waiting on the ground and 10 circling in the air.