OUT in 48 hours, or we chop it up. That’s the deadline set by Philippine aviation authorities for a Xiamen Air B737-800 that made a hard landing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday (August 17) morning, blocking the vital runway 06-24 and cancelling dozens of flights.
Last Friday, hours after the accident, airport officials said the plane will be cut into smaller pieces if within 48 hours the efforts to remove the runway obstacle remains futile.
“Removing the plane by cutting it into smaller pieces so that flights could resume is in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) protocol,” explained airport manager Ed Monreal.
“We already hired a crane that could lift the whole airplane out of the mud and eventually out of the runway,” Monreal added during a press briefing.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines chief Jim Sydiongco said that after one of the engines was detached and part of the inner fuselage was destroyed, “the plane had suffered a major structural damage.”
As of press time, the disabled 66-ton aircraft has remained an obstacle during the last 12 hours on runway 06-24, preventing the landing and takeoff of all flights.
Monreal said the pneumatic-operated lifting bag, a giant pillow-like rubber contraption which is the equivalent of a car’s jack, could not efficiently function “because it is resting on soft soil.”
A previous accident where a similar plane had crashed on the runway 06-24 was speedily removed when then Bureau of Air Transportation authorities called in a giant bulldozer.
The bulldozer shoved the disabled plane all the way to the perimeter fence.
Meanwhile, thousands of affected passengers remain stranded at the Naia waiting for flight operation to resume. At least 48 international and domestic flights were canceled while seven international flights were diverted to Clark International Airport and Cebu Airport.
Naia headman Ed Monreal said the airport is scheduled to open at 7 pm Friday.
Media Affairs Division chief Connie Bungag said the airplane’s load of cargo and luggage have been offloaded to lighten the plane for easy lifting of the front landing gears.