Palace: Cebu Pacific plane mishap at Davao airport shouldn't happen again

Malacañang on Tuesday told airlines in the country to take the necessary steps to make sure there will not be a repeat of Sunday's mishap involving a Cebu Pacific airplane at the Davao International Airport.

At a press briefing, Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will take over the removal of the aircraft on the airport's runway should Cebu Pacific fail to do so by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

"We are a bit concerned about that. What's important for us is to determine the cause of the accident and to take steps to prevent that from happening again," Carandang said.

He added that the government wants "to get the normal traffic going again at the Davao airport" as soon as possible.

Carandang, however, said he is not aware of any liabilites that Cebu Pacific may face due to the incident. He also said the government will wait for the CAAP investigation on the accident to be finished first before making any judgement on the incident.

On Sunday night, Cebu Pacific's Flight 5J-971 veered of the right side of the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao. The incident caused the closing of the Davao airport for over a day, and the cancellation of flights to and from the airport.

The mishap also angered some of the passengers, including Ateneo de Davao University president Fr. Joel Tabora, who complained of the supposed "insensitivity and ineptness" of Cebu Pacific personnel during the incident. — Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News