GMCAC apologizes for near-fire incident

CEBU, Philippines -  Officials of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation said they are working to ensure that the near-fire incident at the airport on Thursday will not happen again.

“The measures we’re doing now are to ensure that everything is operating within the capacity. We’re trying to ensure there will not be a repeat,” said GMCAC corporate communications manager Estee Marie Plunket.

Plunket said the airport is back to catering to passengers, except for the air-conditioners in the international pre-departure area which are not yet operating due to damage in the air handling unit.

During the incident, six flights got delayed as the smoke from the aircon ducts came out, prompting airport personnel to evacuate passengers from the check-in counters and boarding gates.

Plunket apologized to the passengers of five domestic flights and one international flight whose flights got delayed for at least 25 minutes to an hour due to the incident.

“We apologize. It’s not the airline’s fault. It was a technical problem (of the airport),” she said.

Based on the initial investigation of Senior Fire Officer 4 Diomed Alburo of Lapu-Lapu City Fire District, an overloaded electrical circuit had caused wires from a panel board to catch fire.

The panel board was inside a closed room in the international arrival area, where one of the airport’s 38 air-handling units were located.

The company’s internal investigation revealed that an “electrical short circuit” may have caused the problem.

“The smoke came from the smoldering cables and insulation materials. However, there is no official report yet. We are collating reports from the fire brigade and our internal investigators,” Plunket said.

The airport’s fire alarm went off around 1:40 p.m. on Thursday.

Around 300 arriving passengers waited for at least 30 minutes last Thursday before they were allowed to deplane and enter the arrival area.

Meanwhile, Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Nigel Paul Villarete told reporters that the incident will be discussed during their regular meeting with the GMCAC executives on Monday.

“The key here is prevention,” Villarete said. “Knowing the cause and preventing it from happening again... Surely, we will have to discuss these things with the GMCAC. We are partners in this concession agreement. We have to work together so things like this will not happen in the future.”

As the owner of the facility, Villarete said the MCIAA maintains oversee functions even if the operation and maintenance of the airport is under the responsibility of the GMCAC.

The GMCAC took over the airport’s operations on November 1 last year. (FREEMAN)