Emergency rescue workers help passengers of AirAsia flight Z2 272 leave the Airbus 320 after the plane overshot the Kalibo International Airport runway on Tuesday. Photos courtesy of Luane de Lima
MANILA – The woes of the tragedy-hit popular AirAsia budget air continued as three of its flights in the region were disrupted.
An AirAsia plane overshot a runway in Kalibo on Tuesday, an official of Kalibo International Airport said.
Cynthia Asperas, airport manager of the Kalibo International Airport, said the plane with flight number Z2 272 from Manila overshot the runway as it landed at 5:43 p.m. due to strong winds.
“Nag-overshoot sa runway kasi malakas ang hangin,” she told dzMM.
Asperas said based on initial reports, all passengers and flight crew were able to deplane safely.
She said some of the passengers were sent to the hospital to be checked for injuries.
“Nakababa naman lahat pati ‘yung piloto. Pina-check ko sa manager ng AirAsia, kay Christopher de Guzman kung ok ‘yung [mga pasahero] nila. ‘Yung iba daw, sabi nila, siyempre kinabahan siguro, pinadala na lang nila doon sa ospital siguro,” Asperas said.
The Kalibo airport has been temporarily closed to all flights because of the incident.
AirAsia Philippines, in a statement Tuesday night, confirmed that flight Z2 272 from Manila skidded off the Kalibo runway.
“All 153 passengers and crew were able to disembark safely, no injuries reported. All passengers are now at a hotel assisted by AirAsia staff,” the airline said.
Another AirAsia plane, Indonesia AirAsia’s Flight QZ8501, bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
On Tuesday, bodies and wreckage from the plane were pulled from the sea off the coast of Borneo.
Bangkok-London Flight Disrupted; Another Thailand Flight Turned Back
Another AirAsia flight bound for northeast Thailand turned back to the capital Bangkok shortly after takeoff Tuesday when pilots detected an “irregularity” in the storage compartment, airline officials said.
AirAsia Flight FD3254 returned to Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport soon after departing for Khon Kaen at 11.10 am (0410 GMT).
It was allowed to resume service after engineers ruled out any technical problems.
“After departure from Don Mueang, the pilots detected a minor irregularity in the storage area, thus in the interest of safety the flight returned to land at Don Mueang Airport for a detailed inspection,” said Thai AirAsia in a statement.
“Engineers did not discover any issues compromising the safety of flight FD3254,” it said.
Around two hours later a Thai Airways Airbus A340-600 from Bangkok to London was forced to return to the Thai capital shortly after take off, after the pilot reported a technical problem.
No passengers cancelled their flights and the plane arrived at its destination an hour behind schedule, officials said.
An AirAsia spokesman at Don Mueang Airport said the pilots turned back after “hearing some noise in the luggage compartment”. He could not confirm the reason for the noise.
Around two hours later a Thai Airways Airbus A340-600 from Bangkok to London was forced to return to the Thai capital shortly after take off, after the pilot reported a technical problem.
“The plane had a problem with the hydraulic system, as a result the pilot decided to fly back to Suvarnabhumi Airport,” according to a Thai Airways statement. – AFP/ABS-CBNnews.com