(Eagle News) — The Ninoy Aquino International Airport runway where a Chinese passenger plane made a “hard landing” on Thursday night will remain closed until 4 p.m. as recovery efforts continue.
Runway 06/24 was supposed to be closed only up to noon today, but authorities said there could be a delay as it would be difficult to extricate the Xiamen Airlines plane, with flight number MF8667, due to the soft ground brought about by the rains.
According to the Manila International Airport Authority, so far, the “tail end of the aircraft was lifted to give way (to) offloading of baggage from (the) aircraft compartment.”
“Weight reduction would allow easier and faster recovery operations and further ensure that the exposure to risk of the recovery team is mitigated,” it said.
Several flights were canceled as a result of the Chinese passenger plane overshooting the runway amid rains at 11:55 p.m.
All of its 157 passengers and 8 crew members were safe.