A damaged Korean Air plane has been left stuck in the grass at a Philippine airport after it overshot a runway in rainy weather.
Its 162 passengers and 11 crew members all escaped uninjured from the aircraft using emergency slides the night before.
But the incident has forced Mactan-Cebu International Airport, one of the country’s busiest, to shut down due to the stalled aircraft at the end of its lone usable runway.
Dozens of flights have been cancelled.
The front underbelly of the plane was sheared off and its nose was heavily damaged.
The plane lay tipped forward on a grassy area with its front landing wheel not visible and emergency slides deployed at the doors.
A ripped-open hole was also visible at the top of the plane near a front door.
Philippine officials said the plane’s remaining fuel would be siphoned off before efforts begin to remove the aircraft from the runway.
Authorities were also assessing if the other aircraft that are stranded at the airport could be allowed to fly out safely.
Multiple flights to and from Cebu province were cancelled, including those of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, which initially announced more than 50 cancelled domestic flights.
A Philippine investigation of the accident was underway.
The Airbus A330 flying from Incheon, South Korea, attempted to land twice before overrunning the runway on the third attempt, Korean Air Lines said in a statement.
“All passengers are safe and being attended by ground personnel,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said in a statement.
Source: ABC News
