CEBU CITY — Several flights were affected after a Philippine Airlines (PAL) aircraft skidded off the runway of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) past 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 10.
"At 11:40 am today, Philippine Airlines flight PR 2369 from Caticlan landed at MCIA runway and left the paved surface and skidded onto the grassy portion beside the runway. All passengers and crew are safe and transferred to Terminal 1," said MaryAnn Dimabayao, information officer of MCIA.
The aircraft had 30 passengers and four crew members.
"All passengers and crew are safe and transferred to Terminal 1. Safe retrieval and removal of the aircraft from the runway is ongoing," added Dimabayao.
The aircraft was retrieved and cleared from the runway at 2:18 p.m. The runway was opened for operations at 2:38 p.m.
As of 2:06 p.m. Friday, the arrival of 16 flights was affected. They were 5J 553; 5J 206; 5J 005; PR 2288; 5J 575; PR 4847; DG 6722; TR 384; DG 6604; DG 6852; 5J 567; T6 336; PR 1853; DG 6642; DG 6926; PR 6869.
Departure of 18 flights was also affected because of the incident. They were DG 6603; DG 6851; QR 923; DG 6641; CX 922; DG 6641; CX 922; DG 6925; 5J 554; PR 1850; PR 2365; DG 6573; PR 4848; 5J 582; PR 2315; TR 385; 5J 568; T6 337; PR 1854; and 05J 597.