Airport officials said Thursday the 61 unauthorized flights that flew into the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after a two-day closure of its main runway had permission to land from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, which was concerned about the safety of their crew and passengers.
“Those flights were long-haul flights, which means they traveled far. It would not be safe if we would just let them stay in the air,” said Manila Control Tower chief Marlene Singson.
Although the airlines had not coordinated with the Manila International Airport Authority until the planes were about to land, they did inform the CAAP.
Singson said that the fuel level in those long-haul flights might really be low by the time they reached the country, and not letting them land would be dangerous.
MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said the uncoordinated landings worsened air traffic and the ground situation at Naia as other flights were compelled to cancel to give way to the flights.
He backed away from a plan to impose sanctions on them, however, saying a warning would suffice.
But Monreal said that Xiamen Airline must pay the Philippine government at least P500 million which was much higher than his initial estimate of the P15 million it cost to clear the NAIA runway.
“We have called their attention. Liabilities will only come in if there is abuse… If it’s one or two flights, we can let it pass,” he said in Filipino. “We are not authoritarian. It’s the passengers we are talking about. The convenience of the passengers and the service to them.”
Singson said the pilots of the unauthorized flights notified them only when they were about to land. In such a situation, she said, they could no longer refuse clearance to land.
Monreal said he understood the calls for him to resign but said his team did their best to address the situation.
“I respect every person’s opinion. We were not perfect. But we believe in good conscience that what we did was correct. Our actions were based [on protocols]. They didn’t come out of nowhere based on what we wanted to do,” he said in Filipino.
A lawmaker on Thursday urged the estimated 136,000 passengers who were inconvenienced by the 61 unauthorized flights to file a class action suit against the airlines responsible.
“I strongly urge the 136,000 airline passengers who were stranded and whose flights were delayed and canceled to file class action suits against the airlines that made them go through hell last weekend,” said Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy.
Herrera-Dy made the statement after Monreal said airlines that he refused to identify sent a total of 61 unauthorized flights into NAIA which worsened the situation at the airport.
“Lawsuits should be filed against the airlines who created chaos at the Naia,” she said. “The chaos at Naia was not just force majeure. Those 61 uncoordinated flights worsened the impact of what happened to the Xiamen Airlines plane.”
Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday questioned the time it took the Department of Transportation to address the crisis at the NAIA caused by a Xiamen Airlines plane that skidded off the main runway last week.
Gordon said if the emergency response to the crisis did not conform to international standards, improvements are needed in the system of regulatory response or crisis management.
“We have to study how the concerned agencies reacted to this incident,” he said.
“For example, how long did it take to evacuate the passengers out of the plane? Was there Naia equipment and personnel involved or only airline personnel? Was the reaction time, in evacuating passengers and removing the plane, up to international standards? If yes, then we should announce that. If not, what has to be done to improve?” Gordon added.
Meanwhile, investigators are now in Singapore to have the black box and data recorder decoded to determine what really transpired minutes before the Chinese commuter jet overshot the Naia runway on Aug. 16.
“Our Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board personnel left for Singapore early morning today with the CVR or cockpit voice recorder for decoding,” said Eric Apolonio, chief information officer at the CAAP.
CAAP Director General Capt. Jim Sydiongco told the team to hasten their investigation and to bring back results as soon as possible.
Sydiongco also said MIAA and CAAP personnel could not just pull away from the 43-ton plane from the muddy portion of the runway.
The first hour was spent on rescue, and the second was used to investigate and assess the situation he said. He added that they could not simply move the plane without dealing with the aviation gas inside it, which could blow up with “a little bit of ignition.”
Meanwhile, Xiamen officials said in a statement on Thursday that they are willing to pay the costs incurred by the government to remove their plane.
“After the runway excursion at the Manila Airport, Xiamen Airlines contacted Manila airport immediately and made a commitment to bear the cost for aircraft handling and runway recovering caused by the event,” they said.
“We would like to express our sincere apology to all the passengers affected by this event and will do our best to provide assistance to the passengers. From Aug. 20, Xiamen Airlines has set up eight counters at the four terminals of Manila Airport, providing free meals and water to all the passengers. Up to the afternoon of Aug. 22, more than 55,000 meals and water have been supplied to the passengers,” the statement said.
The airline also said it will cooperate fully with the investigation to determine the cause of the incident. With Macon Ramos-Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz, PNA