Vietnam aviation authority probes landing error at Hanoi airport

The plane, VN1544, took off from Hue in central Vietnam at 7:50 p.m. on Saturday and landed at the Noi Bai Airport at 9 p.m.

However, the plane made an error as it touched down, deviating from the center of the runway.

No probable cause has been identified yet. Authorities have retrieved the plane's flight recorder and the results of the investigation are expected to be announced soon, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has said.

A Vietnam Airlines representative blamed heavy rains in Hanoi on Saturday night for obstructing the pilot’s vision, causing the landing error.

However, all passengers landed safely, the representative stressed.

Last May, a Vietnam Airlines plane was caught landing on an unfinished runway at the Cam Ranh Airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

The incident was deemed “serious,” second only to aviation accidents in Vietnam's classification of errors, prompting the CAAV to launch an investigation. Several people, including the American pilot and his Vietnamese copilot, were suspended.

Vietnam's aviation industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The country served more than 53 million air passengers in the first half of this year, up 14 percent from a year ago.