AT LEAST 17 flights were delayed after a Cessna aircraft of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) made an emergency landing at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) around 2 a.m. Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
Edilyth Maribojoc, junior manager of corporate affairs of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., confirmed to SunStar Cebu that the runway was closed at 2:14 a.m. due to the emergency landing but it was reopened at 5:09 a.m.
“The temporary runway closure is tungod atong naay nag emergency landing na aircraft. Nag resume nata sa atong operations at 5:09 a.m. and tanan delayed flights kay nakalarga na,” said Maribojoc.
Of the 17 flights affected, 14 were domestic and three were international.
The affected domestic flights are:
* PR2836 – Cebu-Manila
* DG6510 – Cebu-Manila
* PR2295 – Cebu-Cagayan de Oro
* PR2380 – Cebu-Iloilo
* DG6206 – Cebu-Legazpi
* DG6851 – Cebu-Siargao
* DG6468 – Cebu-Bacolod
* DG6715 – Cebu-Cagayan de Oro
* DG6811 – Cebu-Davao
* Z2760 – Cebu-Manila
* Z2759 – Manila-Cebu
* 5J551 – Manila-Cebu
* 5J609 – Clark-Cebu
* 5J567 – Manila-Cebu
The international flights that were delayed include:
* 5J5062 – Cebu-Narita
* OZ710
* MU5024
Reports said the Cessna plane’s engine caught fire right after it took off, resulting in the emergency landing. (LMY)