DUE to horrible traffic congestion at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, an opposition lawmaker was forced to brave the storm and was left battling turbulence for an hour hovering over dangerous Sierra Madre Mountains until his plane was given clearance to land Monday night.
Following the near death experience, Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez demanded answers from Transport and Airport officials for sending passengers like him in harm’s way as a result of the unresolved heavily congested air traffic while Typhoon “Lando’’ was pummeling Luzon with sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 100 kph.
Romualdez was not the only one who had a scare. Passengers of commercial flights shared the same harrowing experiences.
“Congressman Romualdez was luckier, he had only an hour to agonize. We were made to literally pray for our lives for three hours on air and there was not even a strong typhoon when it happened. We were simply told we cannot land and we had to wait. My fellow passengers got worried we would crash if we ran out of fuel,” according to Belna Cabasan, who complained about the unattended chronic and debilitating air traffic condition.
On Aug. 25, Cabasan said she took a Cebu Pacific flight from Manila to Roxas City but due to bad weather, they were not able to land and were told to go back to Manila.
“When we were already in Manila, the pilot attempted to land three times and was told to hover at the final approach for another 30 minutes due to traffic congestion,” Cabasan said.
“The agony of the passengers did not end there. Aside from delayed flights, we thought we could already heave a sigh of relief but then I had to negotiate another five hours of traffic from the airport to Fairview in Quezon City where I live,” Cabasan told The Standard.
She said when they landed, the passengers were either quiet because of exhaustion and trauma or laughing and joking, “Buhay pa naman kayo di ba?” echoing the line of President Benigno Aquino III when businessmen in Tacloban City sought a declaration of a State of Emergency to remedy the chaotic situation when killer Typhoon “Yolanda’’ flattened Eastern Visayas in November 2013.
“Walang malasakit at awa sa publiko ang gobyernong eto,” said Cabasan.
“This is a tragedy waiting to happen. Do we have to wait for someone to die before authorities do something about this nagging issue? Air traffic is fatal, too. Thank God we are all safe,” said Romualdez, who took potshots at Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, who claimed traffic in this country was “not fatal.”
Romualdez vowed to demand an investigation into the sorry state of the country’s congested airport, which was labeled one of the worst airports in the world.
Romualdez, a frequent air traveller, said the Monday night flight was his “scariest yet.”
This prompted Romualdez to demand an explanation from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general William Hotchkiss III and Abaya to conduct a probe into the real situation of the air traffic situation at the country’s airports.
“Hindi lamang po ako ang nakakaranas ng ganitong delikadong flight kundi maging ang maraming mga pasahero. Kailangan ng ‘malasakit’ sa pagtiyak ng kanilang kaligtasan sa pagbiyahe. The air turbulence was too much,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez’s close aide Ver Noveno said their private plane was permitted by airport authorities to depart Bacolod Silay International Airport at 5:45 pm., almost two hours late from their original 4 p.m. scheduled flight.
“We expect to arrive in Manila after one hour and 30 minutes. When we were given permission to leave by 5:45 p.m., it means that we can immediately land at Manila airport,” Romualdez lamented after the airplane landed around 8:30 in the evening of Monday.
“Kaya naman nating maghintay sa ere, pero masyadong matagal ang nangyari. Mabuti na lamang na hindi naubos ang aming gasolina,” said Romualdez.
Romualdez’s pilots protested to the air traffic controller why were they being directed to fly at low altitude over the dangerous Sierra Madre Mountain ranges at Infanta, Quezon, when the air turbulence was strong, there was heavy concentration of rains and dark clouds formation.
A CAAP source, who requested anonymity, said Romualdez’s plane was already at the far end of the 60-mile radius because there were other airplanes ahead of him hovering over Cavite, Antipolo and Bulacan areas that were also on their final approaches but could not land.
“Literally speaking, na-traffic ang eroplano ni Congressman Romualdez. May nauna sa kanya sa pila na kelangan din mauna mag-landing,” the source said.
“Are the personnel of CAAP especially the air traffic controller competent enough to give air guidance to the pilots? Why were we asked to move to unsafe areas? Nararamdaman ang bagyo doon,” Romualdez asked.
“Our pilots were even ordered to take low altitude, which they refused because that was very dangerous. Mabuti na lamang at mahuhusay ang aming mga piloto at kabisado ang lugar,” Romualdez stressed.
Ver Noveno, Romualdez’s close-in photographer, recounted that he almost thought they would all die.
“Grabe ang air turbulence, nauntog kami sa lakas ng alog. May mga kidlat pa at napakalakas ng ulan. Binabayo talaga ang eroplano sa loob ng isang oras. Natapos ko ang Holy Rosary ko ng dalawang beses, salamat sa Diyos na nakaligtas kami,” said Noveno who was also joined by nurse Adrian Ortiz, SPO1 Dominador Logon, a mechanic, a pilot, and co-pilot in the flight.
