ILOILO CITY — A month after the runway excursion by a Cebu Pacific aircraft that caused a shutdown of the Iloilo International Airport for three days, there is still no result on the investigation and who should be made accountable for the incident’s economic impact.

Officers of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) in Iloilo, who were invited during the regular session of the Iloilo Provincial Board on Nov. 14, said they are still waiting for the final report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board (AAIIB) from the CAAP central office.

“Whatever result of the investigation is, is posted by the media board on our Web site. The role of the Iloilo branch is only on the preservation of evidences,” Airport Manager III Ma. Mecine T. Reyes said during the board session.

Ms. Reyes said it really takes time to finish such investigations, depending on the type of incident.

She added that there are cases when it takes up to a year for the result to be released.

CAAP closed the Iloilo airport to all flights on the evening of Oct. 13 after a Cebu Pacific plane from Manila carrying 174 passengers and six crew members swerved to the left and overshot Runway 20.

The airport was closed for an entire weekend and it resumed operations at 2 p.m. the following Monday, Oct. 16, after the airplane was finally extracted.

Iloilo Governor Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. earlier said officials of Cebu Air, Inc. and CAAP owe it to the public to give an explanation as such incidents affect not just passengers due to cancellation of flights, but have an adverse impact on business and tourism.

Apart from Cebu Pacific, other airlines that have several domestic flights to and from Iloilo are Philippine Airlines and AirAsia.

“They need to brief the people of the city and province of Iloilo as to the reason for the incident and why it took them longer time to extract the plane,” Mr. Defensor said.

CAAP Spokesperson Eric B. Apolonio earlier said it took the technical team more than two days to extract the plane due to lack of equipment on site and the rainy weather.

The Iloilo runway incident was the fourth involving a Cebu Pacific aircraft since 2013 in different airports.

Board Member Domingo B. Oso, chair of the committee on transportation and communications, questioned the CAAP representatives as to why it took them almost three days to pull out the aircraft.

Engr. Diego Eric Abecendario, Air Traffic Controller Service for Area Center VI, said they had to wait for the AAIIB representatives to arrive the next day and inspect the area, and later on request for additional air lifting equipment all the way from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila.

Mr. Abecendario noted that the lifting equipment is expensive and costs around P80 to P100 million.

Meanwhile, Atty. Francis Shanelle Salinas, CAAP Area VI legal officer, said neither Cebu Pacific nor CAAP could be held accountable for the delay in the extraction of the plane as well as the delay in the investigation of the incident.

Ms. Salinas, however, acknowledged that CAAP has the final say on the extraction proceedings.

Ms. Reyes said they might propose the purchase of additional equipment for Iloilo, but not immediately due to the cost. — Louine Hope U. Conserva

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