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| A photo of a Korean Air B777-300ER aircraft / Courtesy of Korean Air |
An alternative Korean Air plane departed for the Philippines on Tuesday to bring home passengers stranded after another plane run by the air carrier overran the airport runway in Cebu.
A Boeing 777 plane left Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, around noon, on a mission to return with the passengers and crew members from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Korean Air Lines said.
The plane was scheduled to take off from Cebu at 4:20 p.m. (local time) and arrive back in Incheon at 9:40 p.m., the air carrier said.
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| A Korean Air passenger plane lies its belly on the runway at the airport in Cebu City, central Philippines, Oct. 24. AFP-Yonhap |
On Sunday, a Korean Air plane carrying 173 passengers and crew members overran the runway on the third attempt to land following two failed attempts in bad weather. No one was hurt in the incident.
The alternative plane will return home with five or six passengers from the ill-fated plane along with some 120 passengers who had been scheduled to get aboard the same plane Monday, Korean Air said.
The local aviation authorities shut down the Mactan―Cebu International Airport following the accident. The airport has partially resumed operation to allow alternative flights from early Tuesday through 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The alternative plane's departure from Incheon was pushed back by a couple of hours due to a delay in the approval process of the Philippine authorities, the air carrier said.
Korea's land ministry sent its officials to the accident site to handle the aftermath, and they were in talks with the authorities there about conducting a probe into the scene, the ministry said.
The ministry said the damaged plane remains 250 meters off the end of the runway, as there is no crane yet at the airport large enough to move the aircraft.
Korean Air also has its officials working in Cebu to deal with the necessary support for the passengers, such as luggage deliveries and others. (Yonhap)
