Gov’t considering penalties against XiamenAir

THE CHINESE AIRLINE whose disabled passenger jet caused the closure last Friday, Aug. 17, of a runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) apologized for that incident, even as Philippine officials mulled possible penalties against the company.

In a statement on Monday, XiamenAir said in part, “The continued thunderstorms have caused huge difficulties in the movement of the aircraft, causing the main runway at Manila Airport to be closed for more than 32 hours.”

A Xiamen passenger jet went off NAIA’s runway 06/24 on Thursday night amid heavy rains, causing the cancelation or delay of many flights and the airport’s overcrowding until the weekend.

“Xiamen Airlines apologizes to all the passengers affected by the incident and will do its utmost to assist,” the company also said.

In his press briefing on Monday, General Manager Ed V. Monreal of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said his agency cannot exactly “punish” the concerned airline, but said MIAA had already aired its concerns.

“We will definitely call their attention to follow the proper protocol .... There might be some consequence, but I cannot qualify or quantify what penalties we will impose. But then again ang importante sa ganitong sitwasyon ay kooperasyon (what’s important during such a case is cooperation),” Mr. Monreal said.

He said MIAA met with an 11man delegation from XiamenAir on Monday morning. He noted the airlines will pay for the costs brought about by the incident, but they have yet to compute the exact figure.

“There are a lot of losses... sequential and intangible expenses or losses,” Mr. Monreal said.

For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a Palace briefing on Monday: “It’s not just an apology that we will ask for. We’re now conducting an investigation if there’s any liability on the part of the Xiamen pilot. That’s why he has been asked not to leave the country. That’s part of an ongoing investigation.”

An initial report by Air Accident and Incident Investigation Board the noted in part, “The Pilot in Command (PIC) or the captain is a Korean male, who is 50 years old and has a grand total time of 16,000 flying hours with 7,000 hours on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft type. The First Officer or the co-pilot is a Chinese male, 28 years old, with a grand total time of 950 flying hours and 750 hours on the Boeing 737800 aircraft type.”

“The result of the drug tests were negative. We still await the result of the alcohol tests because it would take a long process, but we expect to have the results today. As we speak, there is an ongoing investigation and interview with the pilots and the cabin crew,” the report also read. — Denise A. Valdez, with Camille A. Aguinaldo, Arjay