Cebu Pacific plane hit by technical woes, forces closure of Dipolog airport runway

February 14, 2018 - 2:38 PM
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Cebu_Pacific_Airbus-648_A320-214
File photo of a Cebu Pacific Airbus A320-214 landing at Cebu airport. On Wednesday (Feb. 14), a plane carrying 60 people encountered technical difficulties on landing, forcing closure of the runway at Dipolog airport.

MANILA – The runway at Dipolog airport was closed Wednesday after a Cebu Pacific plane with 60 people onboard developed technical difficulties upon landing at about 12:15pm and could not be moved right away.

Pilots at Cebgo Flight DG 6603 (Cebu-Dipolog) “detected unusual vibrations from the nose landing gear of the aircraft during the landing roll out,” said an advisory from the carrier. “As a safety precaution, the aircraft stopped on the runway where all passengers were deplaned from the runway and then guided to the terminal building,” added the advisory.

All 60 passengers are safe and accounted for, according to Cebu Pacific. The runway of the Dipolog airport is now closed “since the aircraft cannot be moved until a maintenance team arrive onsite and further assessment is conducted,” the carrier said.

As a consequence, the following Cebu Pacific flights to and from Dipolog scheduled for Wednesday are cancelled:
5J 703 Manila-Dipolog
5J 704 Dipolog-Manila
DG 6604 Dipolog-Cebu

Additional flights will be mounted Thursday, February 15, to ferry delayed passengers. Affected passengers will be offered accommodation if needed and will be informed regarding their new flight schedule shortly, said the airline.

Affected guests also have these options:
• Rebook their flights for travel within 30 days from original departure date;
• Reroute to alternate stations;
• Get a full refund;
• Place value of the ticket in a travel fund.

All affected passengers will be entitled to a free travel voucher.

Cebu Pacific apologized to the public for the inconvenience the incident has caused.