Cat Bi International Airport adjusted operations after detecting a glowing flying object

Operations at Cat Bi International Airport had to be adjusted after authorities discovered a glowing flying object appearing near the airport.

On September 3, Vietnam Flight Management Corporation said that the Cat Bi Approach Control Center received information from the military at 7:23 p.m. on September 2 about a glowing flying object about 8 km from the center in the direction of the airport. The crew immediately notified the runway safety working group and relevant units, and activated the operating plan to control the situation.

The incident caused 3 flights to be directly affected. Two flights to Cat Bi must wait at HODOL point before requesting a change of direction to land at Noi Bai International Airport. A flight preparing to take off from Cat Bi must be delayed and wait at the apron to ensure absolute safety.

Unauthorized operation of drones, UAVs or spontaneous flying objects around the runway area poses a huge risk to aviation safety, which can lead to situations where the aircraft has to wait, change its route or make an emergency landing at a reserve airport.

Faced with the above situation, tightening management, detecting and strictly handling acts of illegally releasing drones and UAVs in the vicinity of airports is an urgent requirement to absolutely protect aviation security.

In March this year, a kite flown by people in Tien Lap village, An Khanh commune (formerly An Lao) near the landing strip of Cat Bi airport forced 4 flights to change direction to land at Noi Bai airport.

On the evening of August 13, three people flew three flute kites with flashing lights, reaching a height of 400 m, penetrating the safety corridor of Tan Son Nhat airport, causing 21 flights to be affected.