A major airport in the Philippines has been forced to close after a plane crashed while landing in bad weather.
More than 160 people were on board the Korean Air flight, from Incheon, South Korea, when the plane overshot the runway as it tried to land for a third time due to heavy rain.
Luckily, all the passengers and crew members managed to escape unharmed by using the aircraft’s emergency slides.
“All passengers are safe and being attended by ground personnel,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
The front underbelly of the plane was sheared off in the smash, while its nose was heavily damaged, and a ripped-open hole could be seen near one of its doors after the incident.
As a result, it remains stuck at the end of the lone usable runway at Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is one of the country’s busiest.
Dozens of flights to and from the airport had to be cancelled due to the incident, including those of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, which initially announced more than 50 cancelled domestic trips.
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Officials have said the plane’s remaining fuel will be siphoned off before efforts begin to remove it.
Public apology given and investigation launched
The incident sparked a public apology from the airline’s president Woo Kee-Hong, who said: “We always prioritise safety in all of our operations, and we truly regret the stress and inconvenience brought to our passengers.”
An investigation into the incident is now under way.
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It is not the first time a plane has overshot a runway in the Philippines, with a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 jetliner doing the same thing while taking off from Manila’s international airport in 1981.
The aircraft crashed into a concrete fence, before skidding to a halt with its front section protruding over a busy side road of a key motorway.
More than a dozen of about 350 people onboard were injured in the accident.
