Cebu Pacific reaches out-of-court settlement with Davao mishap victims

Cebu Pacific has reached an out-of-court settlement with a group of passengers seeking damages for a flight that veered off the Davao International Airport runway last June 2 and disrupted the airport's operations for nearly two days.

 

The settlement between the airline and the passenger group was done sometime last week, according to a report on dzBB radio early Friday.

 

However, it said the terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed. The association has 155 passengers as members, the report added.

 

Last June 26, the group said it was not satisfied with the relatively light penalties imposed on the pilots of the plane that figured in the June 2 incident at Davao airport. 
 

Initially, the group of passengers said it was seeking at least P1 million in compensation from the airline over the June 2 incident.

 

5J-971 Association president Andrew Bautista said they believe the airline, including its flight crew, had some liability because of their failure to act promptly amid the smoke inside the plane shortly after it skidded off the runway.

 

Bautista said they have sent Cebu Pacific demand letters for P1 million for each passenger. He said his group alone includes 60 adults and 20 minors.

 

The passengers had banded together days after the mishap and decided to take legal action against the airline. 
 

Passengers initially considered filing a class suit against Cebu Pacific, even as Ateneo de Davao University called for a boycott of the airline due to its crew's failure to take care of the passengers after the emergency landing.

 

Late last June, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines announced penalties on the plane's pilot and co-pilot for the June 2mishap.

 

Capt. Antonio Roehl Oropesa was suspended for six months and is barred from piloting an aircraft for one year. First Officer Edwin Perello was suspended for three months.

 

The CAAP said the pilot did not follow the provisions of the Philippine Civil Air Regulations on the “minimum descent altitude” for landing a plane. —KG, GMA News