Aviation official's son nearly causes disaster at Legazpi airport

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines  – Mayor Noel Rosal has requested the immediate transfer and suspension of Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) head Frisco Sto. Domingo for negligence after a Cebu Pacific plane almost collided with a Toyota Lite-Ace van driven by the aviation official’s son last Saturday afternoon.

The plane was carrying 80 passengers including Tourism Secretary Ace Durano and his family.

Rosal said he and his party as well as Tourism regional director Nini Ravanilla were waiting for Durano’s arrival from Cebu onboard the 3:30 p.m. Cebu Pacific flight SJ172 when they saw the plane suddenly abort landing as a gray Toyota Lite Ace van crossed the runway from out of nowhere.

“I was surprised when the plane piloted by French national Christopher Nowioki suddenly aborted landing and took off, upon touching at the west side of the tarmac,” Rosal told The STAR in an interview yesterday.

Rosal said he became worried when he saw the Lite-Ace van moving fast on the runway.

The van was driven by Sto. Domingo’s son Luis, who was teaching his girlfriend how to drive that afternoon.

After deplaning, Nowioki went to the aviation security police office to file a complaint.

“That van could have turned us into a fireball had I not successfully aborted landing,” Nowioki told Rosal.

“All the passengers could have already been dead,” he said.

“It could have been a disaster if not for the presence of mind of a veteran pilot,” Rosal added.

Reports also said many of the passengers wept after the near-death incident.

Secretary Durano, who was accompanied by his wife and two children, was Rosal’s special guest in inspecting tourism projects in Legazpi, like the Lignon Hill Park, the Embarkadero and other projects.

According to reports, the younger Sto. Domingo was teaching his girlfriend how to drive inside the airport. He has been using the airport as access road in going to his residence and must have thought all the flights were completed in the morning and so he could use the runway in the afternoon.

Rosal said that there are now six daily flights using the city airport.

He wondered why Sto. Domingo tolerates his son’s use of the runway when he has ordered that no vehicle should pass the tarmac or even the parking area.

“Why did he allow his son to cross the tarmac which has threatened the lives of all the airplane passengers who come here?” Rosal said.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has also asked Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to relieve Sto. Domingo.

He advised Sto. Domingo to file his immediate retirement.

“The increasing number of flights at the city airport as well as the new Bicol International Airport to be constructed at Barangay Alobo in Daraga town shows that such violation of basic safety rules is a disgrace to our rising reputation as a tourism destination, a disservice to the riding public and temporary setback to our tourism effort,” Salceda said.

He said the new CAAP personnel could still improve their system and upgrade equipment to ensure the safety of the riding public.

Rosal has also requested Mendoza to conduct an investigation of the incident.

He likewise asked Mendoza to issue a preventive suspension order on Sto. Domingo so that he would be inhibited from influencing the investigation.

Meanwhile, the CAAP yesterday ordered a thorough probe into the incident.

CAAP director general Ruben Ciron said he has already instructed a panel of five investigators, led by Capt. Jose Saplan, chief of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board, along with representatives from the Security, Administrative, Legal Divisions and the Flight Standards and Inspectorate Service (FSIS), to determine the culpability of erring parties involved in the incident.

Prior to the landing of Cebu Pacific, the Legaspi control tower noted heavy rains, inducing poor visibility at the runway and its periphery.

In a statement, Sto. Domingo declared shortly after the incident that he did not hear the siren or see the incoming Cebu Pacific plane, apparently due to poor visibility.

 But Ciron said this excuse “does not absolve Sto. Domingo of his liability.” – With Rainier Allan Ronda