MANILA – Chinese passenger jet slid off the runway as it landed at Manilaairport in torrential rain, authorities said Friday, with all 165 people onboard safely evacuated.-
The Xiamen Airlines aircraft, carrying 157 passengers and eight crew,landed on its second attempt before skidding onto the grass and ripping offits left engine, airport general manager Ed Monreal said.
Four people suffered “superficial scratches” as they evacuated the Boeing737-800 jet, which had flown to the Philippine capital from Xiamen insoutheast China, he added.
“With God’s blessings all passengers were able to evacuate safely,” Monrealsaid, adding the cause of the incident was under investigation.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio earliertold AFP the incident occurred in heavy rain and passengers and crew usedan emergency chute to leave the aircraft.
Local television network ABS-CBN later aired photos of a group it said werepassengers from the flight wrapped in blankets as they lined up inside thepassenger terminal.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported the plane circled the airport foran hour before attempting to land.
The aircraft is still resting on its belly near the end of the airport’smain runway where it came to a stop after the accident, which occurred lateon Thursday evening.
The authorities lifted part of the body off the ground Friday morning torecover its cargo as well as its flight data recorder and cockpit voicerecorder, both vital to determining the cause of the accident.
“The Manila (airport control) tower told us that the aircraft tried to landonce, aborted, then circled back. After landing the tower lost contact withit,” civil aviation chief Jim Sydiongco said.
The incident forced a partial shutdown of the Philippines’ main airportFriday.
Aviation authorities have closed the airport’s main runway until 4:00pm(0800 GMT), forcing some airlines to cancel, delay or reroute flights.
The runway for smaller aircraft remained open, but the authorities said theaccident has delayed thousands of passengers, including holidaymakerstravelling ahead of a long weekend. – APP/AFP