More than 3,000 passengers have already deplaned at Clark International Airport (CRK) shortly after a Xiamen aircraft skidded off at the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Thursday night.
Affected airline companies have diverted their flights at CRK and provided passengers bus shuttles to transport them to Manila. As of 8 p.m. Friday deplaning of passengers was still ongoing at CRK.
According to reports, the runway will be closed until 7 p.m. Friday, as authorities struggle to lift the plane out of the runway.
Xiamen’s 157 passengers and crew are safe, reports added.
In an earlier interview, MIAA General Manager Ed Monreal said the incident stemmed due to a “misapproach,” thus the plane attempted to land twice.
Monreal furthered that during Xiamen’s second try, the plane lost contact with the NAIA airport tower.
Meantime, passengers at the NAIA are jampacked and were stranded inside the airport.