Davao City to sue airport, won't charge Cebu Pacific

MANILA, Philippines - Around P250 million pesos was lost in local businesses due to the stalling of a Cebu Pacific aircraft on the runway of the Davao International Airport, which disrupted flight schedules and stranded thousands of passengers.

 

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte this "conservative estimate" of losses to the the local economy is as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, nearly two days after the Airbus 320 jet overshot the runway of the airport.

 

"This is the total losses for everything already," Duterte said in a television interview on Wednesday morning.

 

"We cannot actually give value to the inconvenience this caused to the passengers also," she added.

 

Due to the mishap, Duterte said they are planning to file charges against the Davao International Airport which she claims "did not do anything when the accident happened."

 

"We are planning to file administrative charges against the management and employees of the Davao International Airport... We're collating the documents right now. We plan to [file the charges] by Monday next week," said Duterte.

 

The Davao mayor said those to be charged include the airport manager down to the employees on duty on Sunday night when the Cebu Pacific was stalled.

 

She said they would not file charges against the airline.

 

At about 7:05 p.m.  Sunday, the Cebu Pacific aircraft missed runway 23 upon landing in Davao City. It reportedly skidded and veered to the right side toward a grassy portion in front of the main terminal.

 

All 165 passengers, including the pilot, co-pilot and four crew, were not hurt.

 

On Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) gave Cebu Pacific a 3 p.m. deadline to remove the stalled aircraft. It was extracted from the runway around 8 p.m.

 

More than 3,000 passengers were stranded on Monday after the incident shut down the Davao airport.

 

The CAAP said initial findings point out pilot error as the likely cause of the plane mishap.

 

"There is a saying that evidence does not lie. We have now evidence that points to possible human factor. In other words, [it] may be pilot error," CAAP Deputy Director General John Andrews said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

 

He said these findings will be confirmed later on when the plane's flight data recorder is sent to Singapore for investigation.

 

Malacañang has urged airline companies in the country to take the necessary steps to assure that the recent mishap would not happen again.

 

"We are a bit concerned about that. What's important for us is to determine the cause of the accident and to take steps to prevent that from happening again," said Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang.