DAVAO CITY -- At least 80 scheduled flights to and from Davao International Airport (DIA) were cancelled, affecting more than 3,000 passengers, after the airport was ordered temporarily closed Monday following the runway mishap involving a Cebu Pacific plane on a rainy Sunday night.
DIA manager Frederick San Felix said the number is based on the estimated daily number of flights at the airport.
"Normally, 2,500 passengers daily yan pero kasi peak season tayo ngayon, eh aabot hanggang 3,000 yan (but since it’s peak season, the affected passengers could reach 3,000)," San Felix said.
The airport has been closed to public since Sunday evening after a Cebu Pacific aircraft RPC-3266 or Flight 5J-971 from Manila to Davao "veered off" to the right of the runway some 1,100 meters from the Runway 23 (between taxiway A4 and taxiway A3) during a heavy downpour at 7:05 p.m of June 2.
San Felix said the aircraft carrying 161 adult passengers and four infants, two pilots and four cabin crew was piloted by Captain Antonio Oropesa.
At least two aircrafts -- PAL Express Q4 flight for Cebu and Cebu Pacific Air flight for Cagayan -- were also stranded due to the incident.
San Felix said the pilot was asking for assistance from the tower, informing that they were "stuck along the runway."
He said the air traffic controllers immediately advised the crash and fire rescue team about the incident.
The rescue team responded immediately to the crash site and looked for whatever assistance they could give, according to San Felix.
"Then ang una nilang ginawa is to look for the battery of the aircraft to dislocate. Para hindi magkakaroon ng grounding kasi konting spark baka may leaking yun ang maka ignite. Yun ang inuuna ng mga fire crash and rescue na tanggalin yung batter ng aircraft," San Felix said in a press conference at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) office.
"So, pasalamat tayo wala namang casualties. Wala namang na hospitalized sa passengers. Yun ang magandang balita (We are thankful because there were no casualties. No one was hospitalized)," he said.
The DIA manager said pulling out of the battery might be one of the reasons of the delay for the passengers to disembark from the aircraft.
He said the crew inside the plane was responsible of releasing the emergency suits to the passengers.
"Pero sa mga cases na walang malay ang sa loob, meron kaming procedure diyan," he said.
He said they ordered for the temporary closure of the DIA.
San Felix said earlier that the airport would be closed until 8 p.m. Monday night, or until the aircraft will be cleared along the runway. But in a phone call around 5:30 p.m. Monday, he said the airport management had to extend the temporarily closure of the airport until 7 a.m. today, Tuesday.
"After clearing, we will open immediately," he said. "We cannot just remove the aircraft from the site unless investigated."
The investigation, San Felix said, will be done by the aircraft incident investigation team. The CAAP has also ordered an investigation on the rough landing.
The Cebu Pacific provided a crane to remove the aircraft Monday afternoon around 4 p.m.
"Ginahulat na lang ang steel plate para agian sa aircraft (They were just waiting for the steel plate where the aircraft will pass)," San Felix said.
Runway lights normal
The airport manager also belied reports that the mishap was caused by unlighted runway.
"The runway lights were in normal. The runway lights were in full intensity," he said.
He said it is a standard rule that pilots will not be given clearance to land unless the runway is cleared.
He also said the accident could be blamed to an error on part of the pilot, but he cannot fully say it was negligence on the part of the latter.
"Hintayin na lang natin ang resulta ng imbestigasyon ng investigation team," San Felix said.
"Wala naman may gusto niyan disgrasya yan eh. Masasabi natin yan it's a human factor. Ang human factor very wide yan eh. Ang gumagawa ng eroplano human eh, ang nag cocontrol ng eroplano human din eh. Hindi natin ma pinpoint basta it's a human factor," he added.
P1-million loss
San Felix admitted that the runway mishap has caused "inconvenience to all, especially the business people."
"Every cancellation of the airport operations has economic implications," he said.
Due to the runway mishap, the approximately economic loss on the operation of the DIA reaches P1 million.
"Malaking economic loss talaga yun. Kasi may mga international flights din tayo. Duon tayo nagkaka-income eh," he said.
In fact, he said, the DIA has an income of more than P400 million last year.
He said the DIA is extending "maximum assistance" to the affected passengers.
"They can go to our office. We can assist them. We can talk to the aircraft concerned," he said.
Apology
Cebu Pacific Air has cancelled 20 roundtrip flights to and from Davao on Monday following the incident Sunday night.
Lance Gokongwei, president and CEO of Cebu Pacific, apologized Monday night for the mishap, saying over ANC Business Nightly that the incident was “most unfortunate.”
He said they have not yet identified what caused of the landing mishap, as investigation continues, but they have received preliminary reports from the pilots.
Gokongwei also defended Cebu Pacific’s airline crew, saying the workers did their best. “I'd like to congratulate the professionalism of our crew on board w/ all passengers safe.”
He explained that the airline crew followed the protocol, stressing there was no emergency situation, as it was just a “precautionary disembarkation.”
“In this situation, we may not have handled all issues perfectly, but we can learn from this experience,” he said.
Boycott
Ateneo de Davao University President Fr. Joel E. Tabora S.J., however, released an open letter addressed to the Cebu Pacific management on Monday, calling for the boycott of the airline.
He said Cebu Pacific does not deserve patronage for the "insensitivity and ineptness of the manner in which the Cebu Pacific passengers were ignored and neglected by personnel in an hour of emergency."
He said the Cebu Pacific personnel failed to give “humane assistance” to the passengers, as “no instructions were given; no calming works spoken.”
"It was only after 27 minutes in a smoked cabin that the passengers were allowed to leave the plane by coming down emergency slides," Fr. Tabora said in his letter.
Gokongwei, in the ANC interview, declined to comment on Tabora’s statement, but said they will try to communicate with the affected passengers.
“We have a team that knows how to handle planes. We expect (Davao airport runway) to be cleared tomorrow, not necessarily at 7 a.m.,” he said.
Cebu Pacific said Monday that it has arranged for 10 extra roundtrip flights between Manila and General Santos, four extra flights between Cebu and General Santos, one extra flight between Iloilo and General Santos, and one extra flight between Zamboanga and General Santos to re-accommodate affected passengers.
"The airline is contacting guests on their re-accommodation, and is providing transfers between General Santos and Davao, as well as meals and hotel accommodations, as necessary," it said.
It also said that it is doing its best to assist all passengers, and facilitate the removal of the runway obstruction. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)