Asian Spirit plane lands in Catarman rice field

An Asian Spirit 83-seater British Airspace BAE 146 jet plane bearing 32 passengers and six crew members landed in a muddy rice field near the Catarman airport yesterday morning after it skidded the airport’s runway seconds after touchdown.

The plane took off from the Manila Domestic Airport at around 6 a.m., piloted by Capt. Gomer Monreal and Capt. Eugene del Rosario.

But upon touchdown, the plane’s tires reportedly had difficulty gripping the wet runway of the Catarman provincial airport, forcing it to skid for several meters out of the runway before ditching into the field off the runway at around 6:45 a.m.

All 32 passengers were able to get out of the plane unhurt and were ferried by Army soldiers and employees of the Air Transportation Office.

"No passengers were hurt or injured," Rodolfo Garcia, Asian Spirit airport operations manager, told The Star. He said the mishap was an accident that could be attributed to "residual water" in the runway at the time of the plane’s touchdown.

The plane sustained minor damages in its landing gear and body as a result of the incident.

ATO employees in Catarman said an investigating team from Manila would be arriving today to conduct an inquiry to determine the case of the accident.

The Asian Spirit BAE plane was one of several that the domestic air carrier had recently bought from British Aerospace System to beef up its fleet. The planes were delivered only last February. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Eladio Perfecto