Pilot error sinisi ng CAAP sa Davao airport mishap

MANILA, Philippines – Pilot error ang itinuturong dahilan ng Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) ngayong Martes sa pagsadsad ng isang eroplano sa runway ng Davao International Airport nitong Linggo.

"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," pahayag ni CAAP Director General John Andrews.

Samantala, ipinaliwanag naman ni Cebu Pacific chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei kahapon sa isang panayam sa telebisyon na sumadsad sa runway ang Cebu Pacific flight 5J 971 dahil sa lakas ng ulan at zero visibility sa lugar nang mag-landing ang eroplano.

"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," sabi ni Gokongwei.

Kasunod nito ay humingi rin ng tawad ang CEO ng Cebu Pacific at sinabing magiging isang leksyon sa kanila ang insidente.

"I think in this situation, probably [we] did not handle all the issues perfectly, but we certainly are trying to improve," dagdag ni Gokongwei.

Ipinagtangol rin ni Gokongwei ang mga crew ng eroplano na inaakusahan na naging pabaya nang mangyari ang insidente. Ayon sa akusasyon ng mga pasahero ay inabot ng kalahating oras bago sila pinalabas ng eroplano kasunod nang masamang pag-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," paliwanag ni Gokongwei.

Inamin naman ng tagapagsalita ng airline na si Candice Iyog na nagkaroon sila ng pagkukulang sa pagresponde sa insidente.

"Our shortcoming is that [the passengers] were not immediately informed of what was happening, and they were not updated," sabi ni Iyog sa isang panayam sa radyo ngayong Martes.

Nilinaw din ni Iyog na ang aksyong ginawa ng crew ng eroplano ay hindi isang "emergency evacuation.”

Pinababa ng eroplano ang mga pasahero gamit ang emergency slides na sinabi ni Gokongwei at precautionary evacuation lamang.

"This resulted in the evacuation of the 165 passengers without injury," ani Gokongwei.

Nananatiling paralisado ang operasyon sa nasabing airport dahil hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin natatangal ang sumadsad na eroplano mula sa runway.