Senate probe finds lapses in handling Xiamen air incident — Poe

After conducting two Senate hearings on the recent runway mishap at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), Senator Grace Poe concluded that there had been lapses in the way Xiamen Air and airport authorities responded to the incident.

Thousands of passengers were affected when a Xiamen aircraft skidded off the runway of the airport last August 16.

READ: Tugade ‘deeply sorry’ for woes of Xiamen airline incident

“Oo may pagkukulang ang mga airlines at ang airport management dito. Malaki ang pagkukulang nila. Maraming naperwesyo (The airline and the airport management both have big shortcomings here. There were so many people affected),” Poe told reporters after concluding on Monday the hearing on the incident.

The senator is chair of the Senate committee on public services that looked into the August 16 incident.

READ: Senate probes Xiamen Air runway mishap

In a committee report, Poe said she would reflect Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Eddie Monreal’s own admission that there were things that they should have done but failed to do.

“Importante naman na naging tapat sila dun (It’s important that they were honest in that aspect),” she said.

“Hindi nila na-convene agad yung crisis management team na kasama ang mga airline representatives kaya nagkagulo-gulo ng coordination (They weren’t able to convene the crisis management team immediately with the representatives from the airlines so it was problematic) ,” Poe added.

The senator also noted the delay in the retrieval of the plane as well as the entry of “uncoordinated flights” in the airport after the incident.

Poe said she has yet to discuss the report with other committee members. /ee