THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) yesterday said the Air Asia flight Z2-763, which was reported earlier as having hydraulic leak, declared an emergency landing at 7:28 a.m. while holding over Mactan’s very high frequency omni range (VOR).
CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss told Sun.Star Cebu that VOR is a ground-based navigational equipment that allows airplanes to navigate safely even during bad weather or night flying conditions.
Hotchkiss, a retired commanding general of the Philippine Air Force, said the aircraft landed safely at 7:50 a.m. at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
In a statement sent to Sun.Star Cebu by Doris Mongaya of PR Works, the Philippines Air Asia management said flight Z2 763 from Manila to Cebu safely landed at MCIA at 8:31 a.m. yesterday with 166 passengers on board.
Air Asia said the plane had a technical issue on its way to the ramp and had to be towed. The safety and engineering team check on the cause of the problem.
Safe landing
The statement said that as far as Air Asia is concerned, it was not an emergency landing because the aircraft landed safely.
“The problem involved steering while moving from the runway to proper parking. That’s why it was briefly towed,” the statement said.
Cristina Matondo, officer-in-charge of Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority operations department, said that the aircraft departed Mactan airport for Manila at 6:30 last night.