Authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of the Dipolog Airport runway after a Cebu Pacific aircraft encountered technical problems upon landing there.
The closure resulted in the cancellation of three flights of Cebu Pacific and its sister airline CebGo to and from Dipolog—5J 703 (Manila-Dipolog), 5J 704 (Dipolog-Manila) and DG 6604 (Dipolog-Cebu).
CEB officials said CebGo flight DG 6603 (Cebu-Dipolog), with 60 passengers on board, developed technical difficulties upon landing at the airport around 12:15 p.m.
“The pilots detected unusual vibrations from the nose landing gear of the aircraft during the landing roll out. As a safety precaution, the aircraft stopped on the runway where all passengers were deplaned from the runway, and then guided to the terminal building,” CEB management said in a statement.
All the passengers were safe, the airline said.
“Consequently, the runway of the Dipolog airport is now closed since the aircraft cannot be moved until a maintenance team arrives onsite and further assessment is conducted,” it added.
The airline assured that additional flights will be mounted on Thursday, Feb. 15, to ferry delayed passengers. “Affected passengers will be offered accommodation if needed and will be informed regarding their new flight schedule shortly,” it added.
Passengers there may also rebook their flights within 30 days, reroute to alternate stations, get a full refund, or place the value of the ticket in a travel fund. The airline apologized for the inconvenience the incident caused. Joel E. Zurbano
