Cebu-bound plane skids off Butuan runway; flights suspended

CEBU, Philippines - Operations at the Butuan City Airport were forced to shut down after a commercial plane of the Cebu Pacific Air reportedly overshot the runway yesterday morning.

In a text message to The STAR, John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said they issued a Notice to Airmen (Notam) shutting down the airport until 4 p. m. today.

Andrews said the nose gear of the Airbus A319 aircraft fell on a grassy portion as it was taxiing the runway of the airport in Barangay Bancasi at about 10 a.m.

He said passengers of Cebu Pacific flight 5J220 bound for Cebu were asked to deplane after the incident while the aircraft was grounded.

The CAAP official said the incident affected three other flights of the Cebu Pacific, including two from Manila and one from Mactan.

He said two flights, including Cebu Pacific and PAL Express from Mactan, were earlier diverted due to bad weather.

CAAP dispatched aircraft accident investigator Anthony de Arca and his team to determine the cause of the accident.

In an advisory, Cebu Pacific announced that it has cancelled six other flights including 5J785 and 5J786, as well as 5J791 and 5J792 or the Manila-Butuan-Manila route, and the 5J223 and 5J224 or the Cebu-Butuan-Cebu  route.

The airline also cancelled the Manila-Butuan-Manila flights 5J785 and 5J786.

Cebu Pacific said the nose wheel of its aircraft went off the runway as it was preparing for take-off. It said it would continue to provide updates in coordination with CAAP.

In June last year, a Cebu Pacific Airbus A320 skidded off the runway resulting to the closure of the Davao International Airport for two days. (Philippine STAR News Service)