DUMAGUETE CITY — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said as of Wednesday noon, the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport has already accommodated at least five flights, both arrivals and departures.
Mark Diamaoden, airport manager and head of the CAAP here, said Wednesday afternoon the airport is already back to normal operations, a day after shutting down when a distressed Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus A-320 got stuck on the runway due to tire problems.
He said the airport reopened after the aircraft was finally moved to the ramp just before midnight Tuesday.
Diamaoden disclosed that a PAL team arrived at about 9 p.m. here and changed the two left tires of the Airbus 320, which was earlier reported to have encountered some problems.
At about 11 p.m. Tuesday, the aircraft was transferred to the ramp area of the airport, where it shall remain in the next few days pending investigation, he said.
Diamaoden, however, declined to comment on the details of the investigation and the incident, such as what had actually happened during the flight or while the aircraft was landing on the Dumaguete runway.
“Dili man gud ko maka sulti kabahin ana ky naa man mga investigators (I cannot really speak about that because there are investigators) looking into the incident,” he explained.
He went on to say that there is also a process to follow to ensure that PAL complies with requirements for airworthiness before CAAP gives the go-signal for its departure, he added.
“Naa nay procedure pero wala ko kabalo kay nilarga naman ang among investigator, naa silay gipanguha nga information nga dadon pa didto (There is a procedure to follow regarding this which I’m not aware of but this information will be brought) to the CAAP in Manila,” Diamaoden pointed out.
A total of 113 passengers, two infants, and six crew members were on board the Airbus A-320 when it encountered a problem on landing, but all of them were declared safe.
When the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport reopened, the first arrival was Cebu Pacific’s Flight 5J623 at 6:28 a.m., followed by PAL Flight PR 2541 at 7:18 a.m. Both flights came in from Manila. (Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA)
