Zamboanga airport reopens after freak accident

After a freak accident on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) declared the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA) open to air traffic as of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Capt. Amado Soliman of the CAAP operation center said a notice to airmen (NOTAM) was issued to all pilots with intention to land at or takeoff from the ZIA. The airport was closed to all air traffic Wednesday after an airbus 320 plane of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight 124 was stuck at the muddy portion of Runway 9.
In an interview with GMA’s News To Go on Thursday morning, PAL President Jaime Bautista said the struck plane has been taken out, and that incoming and outgoing planes may now use the runway. Bautista said PAL provided accommodation and food to Zamboanga-bound passengers who were stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City. Meanwhile, Soliman said CAAP’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) will summon the flight crew of PAL’s flight PR 124 to explain what caused the incident that caused delays in some 22 commercial flights to and from Zamboanga since Wednesday morning. — LBG/VVP, GMA News