Via Reuters we learn of a bizarre incident at an airport outside Manila last weekend.
A Philippine plane with 80 passengers aboard was seconds away from a crash when a man teaching his girlfriend to drive sped across the runway as the aircraft landed, newspapers reported Tuesday.
The Cebu Pacific plane briefly touched down at Legazpi airport in the central Philippines Saturday but took off again as the van being driven by the couple crossed the runway, the Philippine Star newspaper said.
The man is the son of a local aviation official, who has been ordered suspended from duty.
"It could have been a disaster if not for the presence of mind of a veteran pilot," Legazpi Mayor Noel Rosal told the newspaper.
A follow-up report from Australia provides more details.
The Philippines' top aviation official has been suspended after his son nearly collided with a commercial plane while giving his girlfriend driving lessons on the runway, the government said Tuesday.
A Cebu Pacific Airways pilot filed a police complaint after nearly hitting the van on Saturday as he was about to land at Legaspi airport southeast of Manila, President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Cerge Remonde said.
He aborted the landing and waited for the runway to clear.
The 80 passengers on the domestic flight included Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano, the spokesman added.
Frisco Santo Domingo, the chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, was suspended effective immediately while an official enquiry is underway, Remonde told reporters.
Police said his son, Luis Santo Domingo, had admitted that he used the runway to give his girlfriend driving lessons, Remonde said.
The younger Santo Domingo, who owns a house near Legaspi airport, also admitted using the airport premises regularly as a short cut to his property, he added.
The official's son told police he used the runway for the driving lessons as he was unaware there were scheduled afternoon flights there.
Ye Gods and little fishes! I can only imagine how the son of the Philippines' top aviation official somehow got the idea that he could make free with an airport like that - and why airport officials allowed him to get away with it! Nepotism, anybody?
Sheesh!
Peter
Scary.
ReplyDeleteJim
It's not that unusual in that part of the world... Saw similar things over the years out there in the military, including people walking down/across runways as we were landing jets. Also monkeys and snakes (BIG snakes) on runways...
ReplyDelete