The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has just issued a document reporting to the Ministry of Construction about the incident of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) appearing in the operating area of Tan Son Nhat International Airport (HKQT) on the evening of August 11.
According to reports, on the evening of August 11, Tan Son Nhat International Airport had to temporarily suspend operations twice due to the discovery of UAVs appearing illegally in the area near the airport, directly affecting flight safety.
The first time, at 18:14 - 19:14, the flight crew of flight 3S621 (SGN-HAN) detected a UAV at an altitude of 1,800ft (about 500m from the aircraft). Flight crew VJ601 also reported the discovery of a UAV 10 miles from the airport at an altitude of 3,000ft.
After receiving the information, the Southern Airport Authority immediately notified the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, the National Aviation Security Center and the Tan Son Nhat International Airport Border Gate Police to coordinate verification and handling.
The Southern Airport Authority has coordinated with Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Southern Flight Management Company to activate the Runway Safety Team, exchange and agree to temporarily suspend the operation of flights to/from Tan Son Nhat International Airport; operate and ensure safety for flights.
According to reports, 60 minutes after the flight crew reported the UAV discovery (at 6:14 pm), Tan Son Nhat International Airport was put back into normal operation.
The second time, at 7:34 PM - 8:34 PM, Division 367 announced the discovery of a UAV about 3km southwest of the airport. Immediately upon receiving the information, the Southern Airport Authority coordinated with relevant units to activate the Airport Safety Team, temporarily suspended flight operations to/from Tan Son Nhat International Airport; organized operations, ensuring safety for flights waiting and changing directions.
By 8:34 PM on the same day, Tan Son Nhat International Airport was put back into normal operation. The above incident affected over 60 flights, including: 3 flights having to make emergency landings due to running out of fuel while waiting; 24 flights having to divert to land at a backup airport; 19 flights having to fly in the air and 15 flights having to stop to take off.
According to the CAAV, through initial reporting information, the units have coordinated to promote effectiveness on the spot, deploy coordinated measures, and handle violations according to regulations, contributing to risk control and ensuring flight safety.
However, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the detection and suppression of UAVs is still heavily dependent on manual observation due to the lack of specialized equipment systems, early detection and warning, and the ability to suppress UAVs in necessary cases.
To enhance the efficiency of management, supervision, early detection and timely handling of incidents related to UAVs in no-fly zones and restricted-fly zones of airports, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) reports to the Ministry of Construction proposing the National Aviation Security and Aviation Facilitation Committee to soon agree to assign the responsibility of presiding over agencies and units in airports in situations where UAVs illegally intrude, affecting civil aviation flight activities;
Invest in equipping specialized equipment systems to detect and warn early UAVs and UAV suppression equipment in necessary cases, not just stopping at the level of visual verification or manual notification as at present.
At the same time, supplement and improve sufficiently strong administrative and criminal sanctions for organizations and individuals with violations of regulations on the management and use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
