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Incident Closes NAIA Runway; Diverts 11 Flights

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway 06/24 was closed for landing at 7:03 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5 after a Saudia Airlines Boeing 747 aircraft got stuck on the grassy portion of the runway.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) immediately issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Inquiry Board (AAIIB) investigators were dispatched on site to determine the cause of the accident.

Flight SV871 from Manila was bound for Riyadh, carrying 298 passengers and 26 crew. The plane was piloted by Capt. Alfaraidhy Abdulmajeed Abdulraheem and Capt. Al Bassam Adnan Mohammed.

CAAP cancelled the NOTAM at 1:36 a.m. earlier today and runway 06/24 resumed operations. The aircraft was towed to remote parking area for inspections while the two pilots were grounded and will undergo medical check-up and investigation.

Eight wide bodied aircraft were made to divert at Clark International Airport late Tuesday night due to the closure of runway 06/24. The diverted flights were: PAL flight- PR307 Hkg/Mla, All Nippon Airways- ANA949 Narita/Mla, Dragon Airways-KA931 Narita/Mla, Japan Airlines-JAL745 Narita/Manila, Delta Airlines-DL473 Narita/Mla, Singapore Airlines-SIA918 Singapore/Mla, PAL-PR469 Incheon/Mla, and Etihad Airways-ETD428 Abu Dhabi/Mla.

While three other flights was diverted to Cebu Mactan International Airport. These were Jeju Air-JJA2305 Incheon/Mla, Asiana Airlines-AAR703 Incheon/Mla, and Malaysia Airlines flight MAS804 bringing the total diverted flights to 11.