Glass wall shatters, ceiling collapses at NAIA-1

MANILA, Philippines – Are these more cases of bad luck for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), this time at Terminal 1?

A glass partition at the pre-departure lounge near Gate 10 shattered at around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, just after passengers had passed. No one was injured.

Renz Caldejon of the airport’s operations division, who is in charge of the aerobridges, claimed that two airplanes at gates nine and 11 started their engines at the same time, causing the glass partition to vibrate and shatter.

At around 10 a.m. yesterday, sales clerks from the Duty Free Shop’s perfume section got a fright when part of the ceiling, made of gypsum board, collapsed.

A black plastic bag, left behind by workers when the ceiling was being renovated, fell through the hole.

According to a sales clerk, water dripping from the air conditioning system weakened the ceiling and caused it to collapse.

NAIA-1 manager Dante Basanta said they immediately placed warning signs to prevent passengers from going near the shattered glass partition.

Engineers from the Manila International Airport Authority, which runs the NAIA, told Basanta that the ceiling will be fixed by a contractor because they hired a contractor to design the area.