ONE airline passenger was hurt after a Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu to Tacloban was evacuated when one of the tires of the ATR 72-500 aircraft caught fire for a still undetermined reason, airline officials said on Tuesday.
The airline said in a statement Cebgo Flight DG6577, carrying 67 passengers, was about to take off from the Mactan International Airport in Cebu around 7:17 p.m. on Monday when its pilots decided to abort take-off because of oil problems in one of its engines.
But while the plan was taxiing back to the terminal, one of the wheels of the aircraft burst into flames, forcing them to evacuate the passengers and crew.
“All passengers and crew were safely evacuated. CEB is providing medical assistance to one of the passengers who sustained minor injury during the evacuation process, and is attending to the needs of all other passengers on the flight,” the airline said in a statement.
Cebgo management arranged for hotel accommodations, and provided meals and transfers to the affected passengers. The airline also mounted recovery flights Tuesday (Sept. 27) for the passengers’ reaccommodation.
The aircraft involved in the incident is an ATR 72-500 turboprop. CEB’s maintenance team is conducting initial inspection of the aircraft, and has reported the incident to aircraft manufacturer ATR.
CEB has also notified and is fully cooperating with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines with regard to the incident.
The airlines earlier announced the delivery of its first Airbus ATR 72-600 High Capacity turboprops aircraft in replacement of the ATR72-500. The new plane features advanced avionics, enhanced performance in hot and high environments and increased cabin space along with additional seating capacity.
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority said six international flights were canceled on Tuesday due to bad weather condition.
The affected flights are China Airlines flight CI702/CI703 (Manila-TAipei-Manila), Philippine Airlines PR428/PR427 (Manila-Narita-Manila), and PR896/PR897 (Manila-Kansai-Manila).
