Cebu Pacific Flight 5J627 bound for Dumaguete City had just lined up on Runway 06 and was rolling away for takeoff when both tires of the DC-9’s left main landing gear suddenly burst.

With the plane’s two jet engines roaring at full throttle, the pilot, Capt. Jesus Taneo, immediately shut the engines down and steered the aircraft down the runway until it came to a complete stop.

No one from among the plane’s 100 passengers and five crew members on board was hurt.

However, what should have been a quick and easy procedure in retrieving the stalled aircraft became a complex one after the pre-arranged emergency procedure failed to work.

The situation was aggravated when emergency vehicles as well as aviation officials were prevented by security guards manning the sentry from entering the gates and proceeding to the site.

The replacement wheels for the plane, the aircraft mechanics, the tow tractor and even the shuttle buses to ferry the passengers took more than an hour to get to the scene as they were not allowed to go to the site of the accident.

Even the firetrucks arrived at the scene more than an hour after the accident. Some airline officials grumbled, saying this was a shameful response from the airport’s fire and rescue team.

An official of the Airline Operators Council who was present at the scene said the firetrucks should have been there less than five minutes after the incident.

A ranking official of the Air Transportation Office, who is also a member of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), took more than an hour to reach the site as he reportedly encountered problems with the security guards who prevented him from entering the runway even as he has a valid access pass to enter the runway.

Capt. Rommel Cadingan and Melvin Derit of the AAIB complained that the airport guards prevented them from proceeding to the site even after a previous coordination had been made with the airport’s security officials.

As a result, the passengers of the aircraft had to sweat it out for more than an hour inside the plane because of the late arrival of the shuttle buses.

The equipment to lift the airplane and replace the tires also arrived late leaving the aircraft blocking the runway.

More than 16 international and domestic flights were delayed due to the runway closure.

Nine flights had to be diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. The diverted flights include Philippine Airlines flights from Kalibo, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod City, Iloilo City and Hong Kong. Other flights diverted to DMIA were a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong, A Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore, an Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul and an EVA air flight from Taipei.

Departing flights that were delayed include a Korean Airlines flight for Inchon, a Continental Air flight bound for Palau, a China Airlines flight for Kaoshiung, a PAL flight bound for Cebu and two Cebu Pacific flights bound for Kalibo and Cebu.

Work on the aircraft started at 12:30 p.m. with airport workers using an airbag to lift the airplane. As soon as the landing gear was off the ground, it took Cebu Pacific mechanics 10 minutes to change the tires.

At 2:11 p.m., the aircraft was cleared from the runway and airport operations resumed 15 minutes later.

The passengers on the stranded aircraft were transferred to another flight and departed for Dumaguete City at 2:09 p.m. using Runway 13/31.