Tacloban Airport operations still restricted due to jet mishap

MANILA, Philippines – Local carriers Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) adjusted their flights anew as operations at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport remained restricted Monday, January 19.

In a flight advisory, PAL said on Monday that the airline would utilize Bombardier Q400 instead of Airbus A320 since the Bombardier G50 carrying government officials and which skidded during takeoff Saturday, January 18, was still obstructing the runway.

The jet is owned by a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation. The jet skidded due to a crosswind brought by Tropical Storm Amang.

The government officials flew to Tacloban for Pope Francis’ visit to the victims and survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan). The Pope’s itinerary was also cut short due to Amang.

“PAL operations in Tacloban will continue to utilize Bombardier aircraft as A320 planes are still not allowed due to runway obstruction caused by overshooting of a private jet,” PAL advised.

The national flag carrier cancelled flights PR/2P 2985/2986 and PR/2P 2987/2988 from Manila-Tacloban-Manila. Instead, the passengers were re-accommodated in 7 flights using the Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific would use the Airbus ATR 72-500 for flights to and from Tacloban City due to the limited operations at the airport, Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs Jorenz Tanada said.

Cebu Pacific already arranged 8 additional flights to and from Tacloban City to accommodate additional passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) shut down the Tacloban Airport and CAAP deputy director general for operations (Ret.) General Rodante Joya, said a team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board (AAIIB) is now investigating the cause of the accident.

The Tacloban airport’s operations will remain limited to aircraft that could use its usable runway length of 1,500 meters until 9 pm of January 20.

Aircraft that could land on 1,500-meter runways are jets or turbo-propeller planes such as Bombardier Dash 8 and ATR 72-500, which has a seating capacity of 72.

It would take at least 3 to 4 days to remove the ill-fated aircraft as investigators are still in the process of documentation, a CAAP source said. – Rappler.com