Philippines closes Dumaguete airport after plane’s tire burst

MANILA, Aug. 14 — A tire of a Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane burst on landing at Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport in the central Philippines on Tuesday, prompting the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to close the runway.
In an advisory, PAL said that the aircraft “currently remains at the runway of Dumaguete Airport after experiencing tire issues shortly after landing at 6:42 a.m. local time.”
The airline said all the planes’ 115 passengers and six flight crew are safe and disembarked from the aircraft, a 156-seater Airbus A320.
“As efforts are being exerted to tow the aircraft from the Dumaguete runway, the CAAP has declared a runway closure,” the airline said.
The airline said all its flights to and from Dumaguete in Negros Oriental province have been cancelled as a result of the accident.
In a separate statement, the CAAP said it has decided to close the runway after the left main gear of its rubber tires was damaged.
However, it said that the runway will remain closed until it is cleared of “foreign object debris.” – XINHUA