Tan Son Nhat Airport experienced an incident on the evening of August 11 that prevented several flights from approaching for landing, with some diverted to alternative airports.
A flight from Cam Ranh to Ho Chi Minh City was forced to land at Can Tho Airport (Photo: Anh Tu).
A member of the airport's air traffic control team told Dantri/Dtinews that pilots had reported spotting an unmanned aerial vehicle near the airport's airspace.
Anh Tu, a passenger travelling with his family on a flight from Cam Ranh to Tan Son Nhat, said his flight had been diverted to Can Tho Airport. The crew later told passengers that the diversion was due to a UAV entering Tan Son Nhat's airspace.
The UAV was spotted twice in an area beyond the reach of conventional consumer drones. After spotting it, pilots immediately alerted ground control staff so the sighting could be verified.
The incident disrupted take-offs and landings at Tan Son Nhat during the evening of August 11.
A senior official at Southern Air Traffic Management Corporation told Dantri/Dtinews that flight operations at the airport resumed at 8.30 pm after authorities determined that the UAV was no longer active in the area.
The official said this was the first time a UAV had entered the restricted airspace around Tan Son Nhat Airport. Air traffic controllers immediately activated the prescribed response procedures, including suspending all aircraft take-offs and landings.