PAL A320 accident

[mokhzani 0]

Saw on TV3 news a few minutes ago that a Philipines Airline A320 crash into coconut and banana plantation at an airport in southern Phillipines. Miss a lot of details tho. The a/c look bad (probably beyond repair) with injuries but no fatalities were reported.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

There have been 2 threads about the incident in A.Net but it seems that it didn't generate much interest, probably because it involved no fatalities (unlike the 'sensational' Garuda crash in JOG or 1-2-Go crash in HKT).

 

However the aircraft was written off. Have a look at its Accident Report.

[Naim 6]

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2007/...fuel.depot.html

 

Saturday, October 27, 2007

PAL plane nearly struck fuel depot

By Ben Serrano

Caraga correspondent

 

BUTUAN CITY -- The 148 passengers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus A320 were spared a grisly death when the airline pilots still managed to maneuver the aircraft away from an Army camp's gasoline depot located near the Butuan City Airport.

 

Police authorities said the Army camp's fuel depot is just four to five meters away from the runway while houses nearly hit by the Airbus A320 plane is about 150 meters at the end of the runway.

 

Post your comments on the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.

 

Soldiers who chuckled when interviewed by newsmen here said they ran for cover when it appeared that the PAL aircraft is heading towards the military camp's fuel depot.

 

The soldiers who requested anonymity showed to newsmen skid marks of the plane's tires showing the plane was trying to stop as it was about to overshoot the runway.

 

Elsewhere, passengers like Louvette Romarate and Department of Agriculture-Manila employee Lily Deogracias said they were not informed immediately on what to do in emergency cases.

 

"It was the male passengers who opened the emergency exits as we already panicked that the plane might explode," the two said.

 

Eyewitnesses including house owner Lily Gerona of Purok 6, Barangay Bancasi recounted that she heard a loud noise seconds before seeing the plane flying overhead at her backyard.

 

Livelihood

 

Gerona told newsmen that children were playing at her backyard seconds before the plane crashed right at the site.

 

Gerona and about 50 residents were just within the vicinity of the Butuan City Airport runway with no fences at their homes.

 

"We saw the huge plane coming at us, thus we ran for our safety," said Medel Balacano, owner of the concrete pig pen, which got destroyed by the PAL plane.

 

Balacano said he is contemplating to file charges against PAL while admitting the runway has no concrete fence to protect them in case accidents like that happened again.

 

"I wanted my destroyed pig pen rebuilt again as this is our only means of livelihood," Balacano said.

 

One of the passengers hurt was a Japanese national named Masaya Okasawa. Okasawa is now confined at a local hospital here after her nose bled. Okasawa was invited to attend wedding here.

 

CIDG-Caraga Regional Director Elmer Duropan Doyo said he and his men saw the plane first touch down mid-way at the 1.2 kilometers Butuan City Airport runway.

 

"Thus the plane lost control as I suspected the pilots miscalculated the runway as they touched down," Doyo said, though he referred media to airport personnel for further information.

 

State of shock

 

Seven passengers from Antipolo City who incurred bruises were seen by newsmen complaining at the office of PAL Butuan City Office Manager Alberto Plaza.

 

"We were still in state of shock as we didn't expect it will happened as the plane looks brand new," Simeon Salas, who was among the seven, said.

 

Among passengers of the ill-fated plane were top officials of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) led by Undersecretary Franklin Sunga, Department of Health Regional Director Leonita Gorgolon and the children of Caraga Regional Police Director Jaime Milla. They were now declared safe.

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

No PAL Order Changes Despite US Flight Restrictions

 

January 15, 2008

Philippine Airlines (PAL) said on Tuesday it would not alter aircraft orders from Boeing and Airbus despite recent flight restrictions on the Philippines imposed by US aviation authorities.

 

"We are committed to take delivery of these planes and pay for these airplanes," Jaime Bautista, PAL president said.

 

PAL is due to take delivery of five AIrbus A320s this year and six Boeing 777-300ERs beginning in 2009.

 

The airline planned to use the Airbus jets to raise its flight frequencies to Guam, Saipan and Palau. PAL wants to fly to Guam daily from just five flights per week now.

 

PAL's orders of new Boeing 777s were meant for its planned expansion of flight routes to the US mainland. The airline currently flies just two routes to the continental United States -- San Francisco and Los Angeles.

 

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has downgraded the country to category 2 from category 1 after inspections showed the Philippine Air Transportation Office (ATO) did not meet global safety standards.

 

As the only Philippine carrier flying to the United States, the downgrade means PAL cannot increase its flights to US territories from the current 33 per week, as against an unlimited frequency under category 1.

 

Bautista said the restriction meant the airline would have to delay planned increases and expansion in flight frequencies to various US routes until the ATO rectifies its deficiencies.

 

"It's not our making, but we are the ones most affected because of the deficiencies of the ATO," Bautista said, adding that he hopes local air transport authorities could comply with international standards within the year and fast track the return to unlimited air access to the United States.

 

(Reuters)