Vietnamese, Chinese planes nearly collide in Guangzhou
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has submitted a report on a near miss that occurred between its plane and a Chinese aircraft at an airport in China on March 2, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) said on March 4.
Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the CAAV, said the agency has received an initial report from Vietnam Airlines about the incident at Baiyun International Airport in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.
A Vietnam Airlines plane that operated Flight VN502 from Ho Chi Minh City to Guangzhou and an aircraft of Shandong Airlines were involved in the near miss.
According to a Vietnam Airlines investigation and comments from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the incident was likely due to poor communication between the airport’s air traffic control center and the crew of Flight VN502, but it was detected in time.
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Thanh said that Chinese authorities are continuing to investigate the near miss.
Le Truong Giang, a Vietnam Airlines spokesman, also told Tuoi Tre on March 4 that the firm already received a report on the incident from the chief pilot of Flight VN502.
Accordingly, the Vietnamese plane landed at Baiyun at 2:02 pm on March 2. The plane then got approval from the air traffic control center to move to a taxiway through runway 02L to the parking area.
However, at that time, the flight’s chief pilot, Rajesh Singh Bhullar, noticed another aircraft – of Shandong Airlines – preparing to take off from runway 02L, so he decided to stop on the taxiway to avoid facing the Chinese plane on the runway.
After the local plane had departed, the Vietnamese aircraft continued to move on the taxiway through runway 02L to the parking area, under the instructions of the air traffic control center.
The return flight from Guangzhou to Ho Chi Minh City took place as scheduled the same day, Giang said.