By ARIEL FERNANDEZ ● REUTERS ● PNA
A XIAMEN Air aircraft with 165 people on board veered off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway in Manila around 11:55 p.m. Thursday, but there were no casualties.
The Boeing 737-800, landing after a flight from Xiamen “went off the runway during a heavy downpour”, said Connie Bungag, officer-in-charge of Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) public affairs office, said. “We are still determining how it happened.”
Authorities said the aircraft swerved to the grassy portion of the runway after touchdown.
Xiamen Air is a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines.
Due to the incident, the airport’s international runway was closed until noon yesterday, authorities said.
All passengers and crew were safe and were deplaned using the aircraft’s emergency chute. They were assisted by the airline and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) as they waited for Xiamen Air operations to resume.
Airport authorities said the passengers of Xiamen flight 8667 were brought to a hotel near NAIA Terminal 1, which services international flights to the country.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is now investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, 49 international and domestic flights were cancelled while seven international flights were diverted to Clark International Airport and Cebu Airport due to runway 06/24 closure.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded at NAIA.
Not all international flights will be affected by the runway closure, Bungag told reporters on Thursday.
“International flights using aircraft type A320 and below can use NAIA’s domestic runway,” she said.
The MIAA, on the other hand, advised affected passengers to closely coordinate with the airlines.
