Pilot presses wrong button, prompting hijacking scare at Vietnam airport

December 18, 2014 | 10:01

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Anti-terrorism measures were deployed at Noi Bai Airport International Airport in Hanoi on Tuesday evening after the pilot of a plane mistakenly pressed the hijacking code button when asking for permission to make an urgent landing due to a pressure incident on the flight.

After detecting that the pressure inside the plane suddenly dropped, Czech captain Pechanec Marek of Flight VN1266, which was flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh Airport in the central province of Nghe An, decided to make an urgent landing at the airport, but instead of pressing the button for the emergency code (7700), he mistakenly pressed the button for the hijacking code (7500), a source told Tuoi Tre on Tuesday.

As a result, units at the airport deployed measures to cope with the situation in which a plane had been hijacked by terrorists.

Many sources had earlier said there were signs showing the plane, with 135 passengers and seven crewmembers on board, was hijacked.

The plane landed safely at the airport at 7:15 pm the same day amid the deployment of the airport’s security forces and facilities.

The VNA later issued a statement clarifying there was no hijacking but there was a technical issue with the plane, an Airbus A321-200.

In a press release issued by the VNA at 10 pm on Tuesday, Flight 1266 had to make an urgent landing following a technical incident that led to a sudden drop in pressure inside the plane.

The plane departed at 5:12 pm from Ho Chi Minh City and when it neared Vinh Aiport in the central province of Nghe An, a technical problem occurred, causing the pressure inside the plane to suddenly drop, the press release said.

The plane, therefore, had to reduce its elevation from 35,000 feet (around 11,000 meters) to 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) and oxygen masks were activated for the passengers and the crew, according to the VNA.

Captain Marek then asked for permission to make an urgent landing at Noi Bai to receive the best support, the firm added.

In talking with Tuoi Tre at 9:30 pm the same day, Le Truong Giang, spokesman for VNA, also rejected information that one their plane’s had been hijacked.

Following the incident Deputy Minister of Transport Phan Quy Tieu chaired a meeting at the airport to confirm that a technical problem had occurred on the plane.