VietNamNet Bridge – Korean pilot Kim Tae Hun, who is suspected to use fake license, is now working for an airline in Laos, after quitting Vietnam Airlines.


The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam’s inspectors are checking Vietnam
 Airlines’ pilot recruitment and training process, which is scheduled to
complete in November.
According to VNExpress, the Korean pilot, who is suspected of using an unqualified license and of having lied about his flying hours, is now an ATR72 pilot for a cargo carrier in Laos. The suspicions were raised in local Korean media in October after he failed to make a smooth landing when he was the co-pilot for a Vietnam Airlines flight in April. The Vietnamese chief pilot Vuong Dinh Hue then had to take over the plane and landed safely.

The Korean pilot then asked for permission to return to his previous airline in Indonesia for confirmation of his qualifications, but he did not return to the Vietnamese carrier later.

Vietnam Airlines says that it is cooperating with inspection agencies to find out whether pilot Kim made false statement of his flying experience and to define the responsibility of the agency in mistaking Kim’s flying hours.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam’s (CAAV) inspectors are checking Vietnam Airlines’ pilot recruitment and training process, which is scheduled to complete in November.

The CAAV recently received the request of South Korean aviation authorities of reviewing the qualifications of pilot Kim Tae Hun after the incident at the Busan Airport in April. According to information from Korea, this pilot declared to have 680 flying hours but he actually had only one hour, which isn’t enough to make him qualified for his post.

CAAV has sent letters to Indonesian aviation authorities, which granted license to Kim, and Indonesian Batavia Air, where he worked before Vietnam Airlines, to request confirmation about his working time and flying hours.

According to a senior official, all foreign pilots at Vietnam Airlines have enough flight time experience to control airplanes. Vietnam Airlines is hiring around 150 foreign pilots.

According to Vietnam Airlines’ flight regulations, besides civil airplane driving licenses, pilots must also meet flight time experience requirements. Vietnam Airlines will then submit their cases to the CAAV for a working license.

Mai Ngoc