Kite flyer faces up to 10 years after disrupting 16 flights at Vietnam's busiest airport

Than Van Tan, a kite flyer in Vietnam, faces up to ten years in prison after disrupting sixteen flights at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the country's busiest, on August 13. The city police's Security Investigation Agency initiated a criminal case against him on the following day, suspecting him of obstructing air traffic. The incident incurred potential losses in the billions of dong, or hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to initial assessments by investigators.

At 7:40 p.m. on August 13, the Region III Flight Operations Center reported an unidentified object within restricted airspace above the airport. Controllers ceased accepting arrivals while ground units searched for the object. Three whistling kites, a traditional Vietnamese design equipped with a bamboo reed and flashing lights, were flying at around 400 meters, inside the clear-airspace corridor utilized by aircraft on final approach.

Airspeeds from Pleiku in Gia Lai, Da Nang, and Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa were grounded while the airspace was cleared. Operations resumed at 8:15 p.m. Police apprehended Tan at a vacant lot adjacent to Tan Binh Industrial Park in Binh Hung Hoa Ward, approximately 2.5 kilometers from the airport, along with two other men for questioning. All three confessed to the violation and revealed that they had gathered at the lot that evening as members of a local Facebook group dedicated to whistling kite enthusiasts.

Drones previously caused takeoffs and landings to be halted at the same airport twice on August 11, two days prior, disrupting more than 100 flights and leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. To Tu Ha, deputy general director of Airports Corporation of Vietnam, has estimated preliminary losses from that night at roughly VND60 billion (US$2.3 million) and noted that the aviation sector experienced 28 drone-related incidents over the past year.

Tan Son Nhat Airport, situated about 8 kilometers north of central Ho Chi Minh City, is surrounded by dense urban development and serves as Vietnam's busiest airport, handling 42.1 million passengers in 2025, compared to 33 million at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport, according to Airports Corporation of Vietnam figures.