Caticlan airport in the Philippines was closed for about 5h on 11 January after a Zest Airways Xian MA60 commuter twin turboprop landed short of the runway, which resulted in 22 of the 27 people on board being taken to hospital.
Caticlan airport says the accident occurred just before 07:00 and the airport reopened at 12:15 once debris that had separated from the aircraft was cleared from the runway.
The airport says the MA60 turboprop, operated from Manila to Caticlan by local carrier Zest, touched down short of the runway and then skidded out of control and crashed nose first into a concrete barrier next to parking bay No 1. It says the aircraft was still there two days later. Photographs of the aircraft (RP-C8893) show extensive damage to its wings, landing gear and to at least one of the two engines.
 |
|---|
The airport says that the aircraft caught fire, but fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the flames.
She says of the 27 people on board, 22 were taken to hospital for treatment and at least 17 were found to be injured, including the two pilots. All those taken to hospital have since been discharged except for one woman who, on 13 January was airlifted to another hospital. Philippine civil aviation investigators have begun their work on site.
Zest Airways, previously known as Asian Spirit, operates scheduled passenger services to Caticlan, a busy airport with a 810m (2,650ft) runway near the holiday island of Boracay. The airline operates Chinese-built MA60 turboprops to Caticlan airport. Last year the carrier ordered five MA60s and only started operating the 50- to 60-seat aircraft three months ago.
Source: Flight International
