The man who is a Japanese citizen said that he tracked the status of the flight online and then threatened to shoot down the aircraft flying from Japan’s Narita airport to Hanoi on January 5.
He is diagnosed with symptoms of neurological disorders and his threat has not yet affected the aviation security.
At 11.10 a.m. on January 5 (local time), about 40 minutes after the flight No. VN5311 conducted by VNA carrying 47 passengers and 15 crew members took off, the airlines’ office in Japan received a call from a man who spoke Japanese and claimed himself to be an American. He forced the fight to come back to Narita or it would be shot down when passing Tokyo Bay.
After an urgent meeting of the CAAV’s emergency and anti-terrorism task force and receiving permission from Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, the Minister of Transport and Japanese authorities, Head of the CAAV directed the plane to safely land at the Fukuoka airport.
The local authorities and police made a check of the plane to ensure its safety. The flight was then allowed to leave Fukuoka for Hanoi and landed in the capital at 6:12 p.m. (local time).
