Boeing 777 Vietnam Airlines, which was traveling form Hanoi to Paris, had to make a crash landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku on 15 January due to a cracked windshield. The aircraft had 294 passengers and 17 crew members on board. No injuries were reported.
One hundred and fifty of the passengers were issued visas and located in a city hotel. The Azerbaijani State airline company, AZAL, informed Trend that the passengers were mainly citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and other countries, which have embassies in Baku.
No visas are being issued for Vietnamese citizens although they will be also placed in the hotel. An airliner is expected to arrive from Hanoi to continue its flight at 18:45 [Baku time], the company stated. And the repair to the aircraft will be carried out by specialists from Hanoi.
In a separate incident on 11 January, an airliner TU-134 of airline company Bashkir Airliners, which was on the Baku-Ufa flight, made an emergency landing in Baku due to a crack in the windshield. The airline was repaired by Bashkir Airliners specialists.
In another incident on 7 January 2007, an airliner from Slovak Airline Company, which was flying from Deli to Bratislava, made an emergency landing in Baku, also due to a cracked windshield. The repair of the airship was carried out by specialists of the Azerbaijani state air company AZAL.