‘Disabled’ Air Asia plane disrupts operations at Tacloban airport

TACLOBAN CITY, Oct. 20  -- The city airport here was temporarily closed Friday morning after an Air Asia plane malfunctioned and got stuck in the middle of the runway.

Air Asia flight Z2-320 just landed around 7:30 a.m. and heading towards the taxiway when the plane’s nose wheel steering stopped working, according to the airline’s official statement.

All the 164 passengers and four crew members are safe. Clearing operations were done around 10:40 a.m.

“We sincerely apologize to our guests for the inconvenience caused by the incident. Rest assured that the safety of our guests and crew is our utmost priority,” Air Asia said in the statement.

An arriving Cebu Pacific flight to Tacloban was unable to land as the stalled plane blocked a portion of the runway. A departing flight of another Cebu Pacific plane scheduled at 7:50 a.m. remained at the airport until Friday afternoon.

The incident has affected mid-day flights of Air Asia, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.

In a message sent to PNA by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the agency said the airport resumed its operations at 11:45 a.m.

Tacloban Airport is one of the country’s busiest with 14 daily flights from and to Manila and Cebu. It is classified as Class 1 major domestic airport. a main gateway from Manila and Cebu to the Eastern Visayas region. (SQM/PNA)