HÀ NỘI –– Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Wednesday asked the aviation sector to increase inspections to ensure the safety of passengers on its flights.

The PM assigned Minister of Transport Nguyễn Văn Thể to lead the process and examine the sector’s regulations and airport infrastructure, especially flight zones and flight management systems.

The PM warned the Ministry of Transport that it will bear responsibility if there are accidents that impact people’s lives.

The changes come in the wake of some recent technical incidents on a number of flights.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Transport revealed that at 12:02am, as a Vietjet plane departed from Cam Ranh Airport in the central province of Khánh Hòa for a flight to HCM City, the flight crew discovered a technical problem. The captain signalled the airport and received clearance to return, but mistakenly landed on a runway that is not yet in operation.

In order to quickly correct the incident and ensure safety, the Ministry of Transport told the Vietnam Aviation Administration to implement emergency processes to remove the passengers and ensure their safety.

The administration has established an investigation team to determine the cause of the incident.

The Ministry of Transport has asked the Airports Corporation of Vietnam to co-ordinate with the Vietnam Aviation Administration and Vietjet to quickly repair Cam Ranh Airport and minimise the incident’s impact on its operation.

Vietjet was asked to co-operate with relevant agencies to determine the cause of Tuesday’s incident and ensure the safety of passengers on all future flights.

The transport minister Thể on Thursday held a working session with Vietjet Air.

During the meeting, Đinh Việt Thắng, head of Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam (CAAV) said the CAAV would temporarily not allow the airline to increase the number of flights.

Also, the authorities will impose special supervision on the airline’s operation. –– VNS