NAIA-3 restaurant ceiling collapses; passenger hurt

MANILA, Philippines – A departing male passenger was hurt when a gypsum board measuring around 3x7 meters collapsed from the ceiling of a restaurant at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 yesterday.

Commonly called a drywall, a gypsum board is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper and used in making interior walls and ceilings.

American Day Adam Warner, 30, suffered laceration on his upper right arm when the board accidentally hit him, according to Terminal 3 assistant manager Josephine Reyes.

She said that Warner, together with his wife and son, was eating breakfast at the Sweet Ideas restaurant at the pre-departure area when the incident occurred at 7 a.m.

They were waiting for their flight bound for the US.

Doctors and nurses assigned at the terminal immediately attended to Warner.

His wife and son were not hurt in the incident. The three were able to leave the airport on board Delta Air Flight 172 at 10 a.m.

Initial investigation conducted by the engineering department of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) revealed that materials used in the construction of the restaurant’s ceiling were weak.

MIAA spokesman David de Castro said the layout and construction of interiors of commercial spaces in the terminal are shouldered by concessionaires.

He said penalties will be imposed on the concessionaire if it was found that they used substandard construction materials.

The Sweet Ideas restaurant, meanwhile, will remain closed until the investigation and renovations have been completed.

Terminal 3 opened in 2008 after years-long legal row between the government and the Filipino - German consortium that built it, with the authorities citing breach of contract and a failure to conform with safety standards.

Designed to handle 13 million passengers annually, it was built to decongest the capital’s older terminals.

While Terminal 3 has not suffered any major incidents since it underwent a major rehabilitation in 2013-2014, according to De Castro, Manila airport’s 34-year-old Terminal 1 has a much more unfavorable reputation.

Passengers have complained of leaking ceilings, collapsed floors, malfunctioning equipment, congestion, dilapidated facilities and rude or corrupt personnel.

It led to Manila topping a list of the world’s worst airports compiled by the travel website “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” from 2011-2013.

However, it has since improved its standing, and is no longer listed as the worst, partly due to decongestion as more passengers have begun traveling through Terminal 3.