The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has ordered the temporary closure of Francisco Reyes Airport in Palawan after a Skyjet plane with 80 passengers and six crew on board overshot the runway late Friday afternoon.
The closure also resulted in the cancellation of eight flights of Cebu Pacific Air’s sister airline CebGo and six flights of Skyjet to and from Manila on Friday and Saturday.
Initial reports from CAAP showed that the Magnum Air Skyjet Inc. flight M8-717 that left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 4 overshot the runway after landing at the Francisco Reyes Airport around 4:40 pm Friday.
CAAP chief information officer and spokesperson Eric Apolonio said the passengers and crew on board were all safe and were transferred to the airport terminal upon landing. He added the agency also issued a notice to airmen (Notam CO423/18) announcing that all flights to and from Busuanga have been cancelled on Saturday.
“The aircraft was stalled 150 meters at the end of Runway 08 and had to be removed while awaiting the arrival of the equipment that will tow the aircraft to a remote parking bay,” said Apolonio.
Apolonio added that the CAAP has sent Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry board investigators led by Col. Aberto Dulay and Reineer Baculinao to conduct an investigation and determine the cause of the accident.
The Francisco Reyes Airport handles at least 16 domestic flights daily from carriers, CebGo, Philippine Airlines Express, Skyjet and Air Juan.
Formerly known as Busuanga Airport, the facility is an airport serving the general area of Coron, located on Busuanga Island in the province of Palawan.
On Nov. 10, 2008, the airport has been named after Francisco B. Reyes, the mayor of Coron from 1936 to 1939 who donated the land that forms the current airport complex.
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority also announced the cancellation of Skyjet flights (Manila-Basco-Manila) and CebGo flights (Manila-San Jose-Manila) because of the bad weather condition brought by Tropical Storm “Domeng” on Saturday.