The lone runway of the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Caticlan, Aklan was temporarily closed for more than six hours Monday after a commercial aircraft was left crippled in the middle of the runway after suffering a blown tire.

The airport is the main gateway to the world-famous Boracay Island, and incoming flights were forced to divert to the Kalibo airport.

The Southeast Asian (SEA) Air 19-seater LET 410 airplane with registry number RPC-2928 got stuck in the middle of Caticlan’s Runway 06-24 after its left main landing gear suffered a blow-out.

The SEAir flight DG705, which was piloted by Capt. James Bihasa, landed at the Caticlan airport at 6:30 a.m. Upon touchdown however, the aircraft’s left landing gear suddenly blew up, forcing the pilot to park the aircraft in the middle of the runway.

The SEAir plane was on a ferry flight and the only people onboard at the time were Bihasa, his co-pilot and a mechanic.

With the aircraft stuck in the middle of the lone runway, air traffic controllers at the Caticlan airport immediately sent out a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) informing all aviators that the runway has been closed. All flights were diverted to the Kalibo airport 70 kilometers away.

As of press time, 16 flights from Cebu Pacific, PAL Express, Zest Air and SEAir had already been affected by the runway closure, with passengers bound to Boracay being ferried to and from the Kalibo airport.

Airport authorities tried to tow the aircraft from the runway but the airline company did not have a spare tire on hand and the airport did not have the right equipment to pull the stalled aircraft to a safe area.

Upon learning of the incident, newly appointed Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Alfonso Cusi immediately ordered a review of the Caticlan airport’s Emergency and Rescue Plan to prevent a similar incident in the future.

According to Cusi, the review will determine what equipments are needed by the airport to address such eventualities and prevent prolonged closure of the runway.

This is the fifth time that a SEAir aircraft has suffered a tire blowout in Caticlan.

As of 1:34 p.m. Monday, the blown tire was finally replaced and the plane cleared off the runway. Airport authorities consequently reopened the Caticlan airport for operations.