Air Asia plane towed from Mactan airport runway due to hydraulic problem

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A plane of the Air Asia Philippines had encountered a hydraulic problem when it landed at the Mactan Cebu International Airport at 7:50 a.m. Tuesday.

Flight Z2 763 was carrying more than 100 passengers from Manila but all of them were safe, a male staff of the company said.

In a separate interview, Roel Aranzado, officer-in-charge of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Control Tower, clarified reports that the plane had experienced difficulty in landing. He said the plane had just a slight hydraulic problem in its nose gear, making it difficult for the plane to taxi at the airport’s runway.

Aranzado said they had to tow the plane immediately from the runway to avoid disruption of its operation.

The plane could not control its nose wheel because of the hydraulic problem.

“We have to ready a tow truck in order to tow the plane because it can not taxi on its own,” Aranzado said.

The plane was brought to the remote parking area of the airport for fixing and its returning flight for Manila was cancelled.  SFM