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BY RUBY SILUBRICO
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Sunday, October 15, 2017
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ILOILO City – Several domestic and international flights were cancelled as the Iloilo International Airport was temporarily closed after a Cebu Pacific aircraft overshot the runway late Friday night.
No one was injured in the incident that prompted the evacuation of the 180 passengers and crew members on board.
The nose gear of Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 461 missed the runway, hit a grassy area and got stuck, according to Eric Apolonio, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
“All we know so far is that the nose gear missed the runway,” Apolonio told Panay News in Filipino in a phone interview yesterday.
“We have yet to know what really the caused the incident,” he said. “Our investigators were already in the area.”
Earlier yesterday Apolonio said they were expecting to extract the aircraft and resume airport operations by 6 p.m.
But the aircraft has not yet been removed as of 9 o’clock last night. The Iloilo International Airport will remain closed until 7 o’clock tonight, Apolonio said.
He told Panay News they had to ship from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila additional lifting equipment, which were being ferried from the airport in Roxas City as of press time.
The Cebu Pacific Airbus 320 aircraft has just arrived from the NAIA and landed at 11:10 p.m. when the excursion happened.
All 180 passengers and the flight crew were safe but several flights had to be cancelled because the stranded aircraft blocked the runway, Apolonio said.
Some passengers were sent to other airports in Kalibo town in Aklan province, Roxas City in Capiz and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. Others chose to have their flights rescheduled, said Apolonio.
“We offered hotel accommodation and food to passengers who had no immediate relatives in the area,” he said. “We offered other passengers land trips to other airports.”
Apolonio asked for all the affected passengers’ cooperation and understanding.
“[The] CAAP is doing its best to extract the aircraft so that flights will be normalized soon,” the agency said in an advisory released yesterday.
The CAAP assured that all the passengers were safe and ferried to the terminal.
“We ask the public for understanding as ensuring the passengers’ safety and security is paramount in maintaining our airports and skies safe for travel,” it said.
The following flights were cancelled for the duration of the closure of the airport:
Friday, Oct. 13
- 5J 467 Manila-Iloilo
Saturday, Oct. 14
- 5J 468 Iloilo-Manila
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5J 449/450 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 451/452 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 453/454 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 721/720 Iloilo-Davao-Iloilo
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5J 255/256 Iloilo-Singapore-Iloilo
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DG 6408/6409 Cebu-Iloilo-Cebu
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5J 447/448 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 467 Manila-Iloilo
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5J 457/458 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 247/248 Iloilo-General Santos-Iloilo
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5J 165 Iloilo-Cebu
Sunday, Oct. 15
- 5J 451/452 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 453/454 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 457/458 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
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5J 468 Iloilo-Manila
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5J 348/347 Davao-Iloilo-Davao
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DG 6408/6409 Cebu-Iloilo-Cebu
The Cebu Pacific management had secured the stranded aircraft’s black box.
The carrier popular for budget flights said they were mobilizing additional flights from Manila and Davao to Iloilo and Roxas to accommodate passengers on cancelled flights.
“Land transfer between Roxas and Iloilo will be made available,” the management said in a statement.
Affected passengers may rebook their flights within 30 days from the original departure date; reroute to alternate stations (Roxas, Bacolod or Kalibo for domestic flights, and Cebu or Manila for flights to and from Singapore); or opt for a full refund or travel fund, the airline said.
“We are working proper authorities to expedite the removal of the aircraft from the Iloilo airport runway,” Cebu Pacific said. (With Philippine News Agency/PN)
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