Recovery of stuck jet continues; Naia runway closed until 4 p.m.

Chinese plane skids off Naia runway in downpour; all on board safe

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) has extended the closure of a runway until 4:00 p.m. of Friday as the recovery of  a Chinese airliner that veered off the runway on Thursday evening, continues.

Naia in a statement said runway 06/24 which is being used by most international flights, remains nonoperational as of posting. The runway was initially planned to be closed until 12:00 p.m. of Friday only.

Airport authorities said the tail end of the Boeing B737 Xiamen Air flight MF8667 was already lifted from the grass area where it got stuck, to offload passenger baggage from its compartment.

According to Naia, the aircraft landed at the airport’s runway 24 at 11:55 p.m. NAIA said the plane encountered a “runway excursion” after landing.  A runway excursion happens when an aircraft makes an inappropriate exit from the runway due to pilot error, poor weather, or a fault with the aircraft.

A Xiamen Airlines Boeing 737-800 lies next to the airport perimeter fence after it overshot the runway at NAIA 2 in Parañaque City on Friday. – Marianne Bermudez

Authorities explained that wet grass due to rainfall is hampering the recovery operation.

Naia said the following flights have been canceled as of 11:19 a.m.:

Naia Terminal 1:

Naia Terminal 2:

Philippine Airlines

Naia Terminal 3:

Cathay Pacific

Cebu Pacific

Meanwhile, the following flights have also been diverted according to NAIA:

Philippine Airlines

Cebu Pacific

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