Irate Vietnamese passenger fined for harming aviation staff

A passenger of budget airline VietJet was fined VND7.5 million ($330) for injuring one of the airline’s staff by flinging his phone at her after learning that his flight had left early due to bad weather.

The staff had to be hospitalized after she bled excessively from the resultant wound.

Cuong, whose full name has not been released, had failed to provide correct phone numbers when purchasing his ticket. So when his flight, scheduled to depart from Da Nang at 11 p.m. on June 3, was advanced to fly at 8 p.m. due to bad weather, the airline could not contact him.

When he arrived at the airport, the airline staff suggested that he takes the flight the next morning. An angry Cuong threw his cell phone at the female employee. The phone hit her around the eyes, and the wound bled profusely. She was rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Security staff at the Da Nang International Airport security took the passenger into custody and transferred his records to aviation authorities for further investigation. Cuong was fined on Thursday and is facing a flight ban from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

“The authority has notified the passenger of the penalty, but he has not paid it yet. If the passenger refuses to pay, we will apply a flight ban on him,” an official said.

Bad weather conditions caused ten flights in central Vietnam to cancel on June 3 and flights from Da Nang International Airport had to depart sooner.

Approximately 10,000 flight cancellations and delays by Vietnamese airlines were recorded in the first three months of 2018, according to figures by CAAV.