The incident occurred on July 21, passenger Nguyen Thanh P on flight VN131 from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, sitting at seat number 28E, spread the news that there was a grenade in his suitcase. With only 10 minutes left for the plane to take off, the captain had to make an emergency stop and make the decision to cut passengers (family of 4) and search their luggage. Then, re-check security for all passengers, luggage, and goods.
During the search and inspection process, the security department did not detect explosives on the person and luggage of passenger Nguyen Thanh P. No security abnormalities were detected for the aircraft and all passengers. luggage and goods on the flight.
There have been many cases of passengers threatening or joking about having guns or grenades in their luggage. On November 7, 2023, when flight VN186, from Da Nang - Hanoi, was about to take off, it had to make an emergency stop because the flight attendant heard two passengers talking to each other about keeping guns in their luggage.
After that, security forces checked and controlled. At 9:56 p.m. on the same day, flight VN186, route Da Nang - Hanoi. The flight was delayed for nearly 2 hours and 30 minutes because of a joke.
Airplane passengers often encounter flight delays, including many reasons, such as bad weather, technical problems, airport overload, and other reasons from the passenger side. Passengers entered the waiting room, but were so busy playing that they forgot the boarding time. Passengers joked or threatened to have grenades or guns in their luggage.
The first consequence is that the flight must be stopped for inspection, extending the time. All passengers on that flight were affected, spending several hours waiting and even having to go through security procedures again.
But that's not all, the next flights are "delayed" in a domino fashion, this flight being late causes the next flights to be late. Therefore, it is not the passengers on the first flight who suffer, but all subsequent flights.
The airline's flight delays were criticized and even scolded by passengers on social networks, but few people knew that the original cause was because someone joked about having a grenade.
There is also damage related to tourism and the reputation of the airline industry. Vietnam is a country that is highly rated in the world for safety. In early 2024, the US travel site Travel Off Path cited data from the Global Law and Order Index showing that Vietnam is not only the safest country in Asia with a score of 92/ 100, but also in the top 7 in the world.
So, threatening guns and grenades on planes will cause damage to the aviation industry and affect Vietnam's tourism industry.
