Security lapse at airport

Security lapse at airport

HANOI (DPA): For the second time in as many weeks, an intruder found his way onto the tarmac in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport and approached a Vietnam Airlines jet unhindered, officials admitted on Wednesday.

Tran Van Thai, a drifter described as 'mentally unstable', walked through a security checkpoint and onto the country's busiest runways, where he wandered around for four hours before detection, said a Tan Binh district policeman who asked not to be identified.

Thai, 19, went fishing at a pond in the airport's military area before walking over to a Vietnam Airlines Boeing 767 and sitting on the stairs leading up to the cabin after passengers boarded the aircraft, the policeman said.