Duong Thi Dung, 59, was caught after a security check for a flight from the Lien Khuong International Airport in the Central Highlands town of Da Lat to Hanoi on October 7, the Southern Airports Authority said.

Aviation security staff discovered an aircraft life jacket in her luggage. Investigators found that the life jacket was stolen from a Hanoi-Cam Ranh flight operated by low-cost carrier Vietjet on October 2.

Dung admitted to aviation officials that she took the life jacket from under the seat, hid it in her baggage and managed to leave the airport without being caught.

Life jackets on an aircraft can only be used on the advice of flight attendants in case an emergency landing on water is needed. Any act of removing a life jacket from the position without the flight attendant's request is a serious violation of aviation safety, officials from the Southern Airports Authority said.