CAAP: Pilot error caused Davao airport mishap

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Tuesday said that pilot error likely caused the runway mishap at the Davao International Airport on Sunday night.

"We have now the evidence to state for a fact that pilot error was involved. It's not the plane. No problem with the plane," said CAAP Director General John Andrews.

Cebu Pacific chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei, meanwhile, explained during a television interview on Monday that Cebu Pacific flight 5J 971 skidded off the runway because it was raining hard and there was zero visibility when it touched down the airport.

"Upon touchdown there was a sudden heavy downpour of rain resulting in zero visibility. At that point, the airplane geared to the right and off the paved surface of the runway. At this point, following procedures, the pilot immediately shut down both engines," Gokongwei said.

The airline's top executive, meanwhile, apologized for the incident during the television interview. He said that the company will try to "learn from this experience."

"I think in this situation, probably [we] did not handle all the issues perfectly, but we certainly are trying to improve," Gokongwei said, referring to the complaints of the hundreds of passengers affected by the mishap.

The airport's operations were still suspended as of Tuesday morning as the Cebu Pacific plane has yet to be pulled out of the runway. Gokongwei had promised to pull out the plane by 7 a.m. today.

Gokongwei also defended the crew, who were accused of ignoring and neglecting passengers who were made wait for half an hour in a smoke-filled cabin following the rough landing.

"Of course (the staff) did their best, and it was a very panic situation. We would like to congratulate, actually, the professionalism of their crew on board and I think the most important thing is that the 165 passengers on board were all disembarked safely," Gokongwei said.

The executive, meanwhile, refused to comment on the angry letter of Ateneo de Davao University president Joel Taboro following the mishap.

"I cannot comment on Fr. Tabora's statement although there might be certain facts there that may not be true although that's what he may perceive," Gokongwei said.

Cebu Pacific spokesperson Candice Iyog also admitted that the airline erred in responding to the incident.

"Our shortcoming is that (the passengers) were not immediately informed of what was happening, and they were not updated," Iyog said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

Iyog also clarified that the procedure that the crew followed was not an "emergency evacuation," which would involve risks and might cause injury.

Instead, the passengers were asked to exit through emergency slides which, Gokongwei said, was only a precautionary evacuation.

"This resulted in the evacuation of the 165 passengers without injury," he said. - with reports from AP