Passenger plane misses runway landing

A small passenger plane serving the island of Boracay missed the runway on landing yesterday, leaving at least two passengers seriously injured, officials said.

Hospitals in the town of Malay and nearby Kalibo City treated the Zest Airways plane’s 21 passengers and five crew for various injuries after the plane made the hard landing and smashed into a concrete wall.

Two of the passengers had sustained serious fractures and cuts and the rest were treated for minor injuries and discharged.

Five foreigners were among those injured as reported by a local radio broadcaster.

They were identified as James Peter Tauerman, a doctor from Germany, fellow German national Bernd Doehler, Canadian Mark Samson and Korean nationals Jun Tin Sun and Koi Dong Dyu.

Forty-year-old Rowena Versoza of Quezon City and 29-year-old Evelyn Ranoa of Sta. Mesa, Manila were also reported among the injured.

Two others on the ground were injured, including a security guard who was hit in the mouth by debris.

The Chinese-made MA60 turboprop was flying in holidaymakers from Manila on their way to the nearby island resort of Boracay, airport officials said.

Flight RIT 865 left Manila at 6:01 a.m. for Caticlan piloted by Vicente Gazo Jr. and co-pilot Jeffrey Lim.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general Ruben Ciron said the 56-seater MA60 plane failed to land on its first attempt due to strong winds.

The cause of the crash, which forced the closure of the airport said to be the country’s second busiest after Manila, was not immediately known.

A Canadian passenger who asked not to be named said the pilot apparently misjudged the landing due to heavy winds.

The plane landed on the grass well short of the runway. Its left wing ploughed into a ditch, preventing the plane from hitting the airport terminal, witnesses said.

The plane instead smashed into an airport wall, narrowly missing the airport restaurant, an AFP photographer on the scene said.

At 12:15 p.m. yesterday, Ciron reported that the Caticlan Airport was opened for normal operations. SEAIR, on the other hand, has shifted all its nine flights to Kalibo starting Sunday.

Eyewitnesses who arrived at the Manila Domestic Airport from Kalibo said the plane was a total wreck.

The CAAP has dispatched an investigation team yesterday morning, headed by Hilary Cabugon, to look into the accident.

The MA60 is a twin-engine, short and medium haul transport aircraft, designed for multi-role commuter operations. It was not certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

It has a capacity of between 50 to 60 passengers.

There is an average of 80 flights a day landing at Caticlan, peaking to about 120 flights during the summer months. – With Ronilo Pamonag, AP