(Update) Plane delayed due to tardy air traffic controllers
By JEWEL REYES, ABS-CBN Zamboanga | 12/26/2008 3:02 PM
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A domestic flight bound for Zamboanga City was forced to delay landing Friday morning after five air traffic controllers came one hour late for work.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Zamboanga said Philippine Airlines flight 123 hovered above the Zamboanga City International Airport for at least 30 minutes before suspending the landing.
The PAL flight was eventually given visual clearance to land.
The CAAP said the flight, which was supposed to land around 6 a.m., was forced to suspend the landing because five air controllers who were supposed to be on duty and giving the pilots visual clearance were late for at least an hour.
The plane was carrying at least 140 passengers. It was the first flight in the morning from Manila.
Meanwhile, two commercial flights of Cebu Pacific from Cebu and Manila almost suffered the same fate but the pilots opted to land despite not having clearance so flights could be on time.
The five air traffic controllers arrived shortly after 7 a.m.
Celso Bayabos, Zamboanga City airport manager, said it was the first time a flight failed to land because of the air traffic controllers' tardiness.
Bayabos assured that sanctions will be imposed on the five tardy air traffic controllers.
"We will issue a memorandum to the five employees to explain why they were late...There will be sanctions because they placed the lives of the passengers in danger," he said.
Bayabos said his office will wait for the explanation of the air traffic controllers as to why they were late to reportfor work before recommending with central office to issue sanctions.
He said the incident was already formally reported to the central office of both the CAAP and the commercial airlines involved.
The case is currently under investigation.
