On March 29, 2007 an ATR-72 aircraft operated by Vietnam Airlines made an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhut airport after experiencing hydraulic problems. News reports about the incident say that the aircraft touched down safely, but then slid into the grass beside the runway. No one was injured.Vietnam Airlines Flight VN479 had just departed from Ho Chi Minh City on a scheduled flight to Phu Quoc island when the hydraulic problem developed. An article about the incident in the Bangkok Post said:
The plane, carrying 65 passengers and 5 crew members, landed properly but could not stop in time and skidded 25 metres off the runway due to the malfunction of the brakes, which were powered by the hydraulic system.An item on ThanhNienNews.com said that, after it landed, the plane "was to take the E1 taxiway after finishing the runway. However, the faulty hydraulic system affected the plane’s brake system, causing the plane to miss the E1."
"One of the valves of the hydraulic system had broken, leaving the plane unable to retract its landing gears so it had to return," Tran Van Mai, the state carrier's Ho Chi Minh City maintenance director, said Friday by telephone.
"It might have been a mistake by the manufacturer," Mai said, adding that the plane is only five-years-old.
VietNamNet Bridge reports that the aircraft was towed to a hangar for inspection and repair.
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