Passenger plane badly damaged after overshooting runway in rainy weather

A Korean Air plane took off from the runway in the Philippines yesterday and landed on wet grass.

Pictures show the badly damaged plane with its emergency slides still blocking the airport’s lone runway this morning.

There were no serious injuries among the 162 passengers and 11 crew on board flight KE631, all of whom were rescued by slide after the incident in wet conditions.

Some had minor injuries that were treated at the airport clinic.

Dozens of flights were canceled at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport – the country’s second busiest – which was still closed this morning.

Philippine officials said the remaining fuel would be pumped from the plane before efforts to remove it began.

The Airbus A330, which was flying from Incheon, South Korea, attempted to land twice before overshooting the runway on the third attempt, Korean Air Co said in a statement.

Local authorities were also assessing whether it was safe to take off other planes that were at the airport.

The stalled plane lay in a sorry state at the end of the airport’s lone usable runway after a horrific crash.

It had its front landing gear sheared off and its nose badly damaged.

The plane was lying forward in a grassy area, its front landing gear was not visible, and a hole was visible near the front door.

The incident prompted Korean Air’s president to publicly apologize and promise to take measures to prevent future incidents.

“We always prioritize safety in all our operations, and we sincerely regret the stress and inconvenience caused to our passengers,” Wu Qihong said.

Dozens of flights to and from Cebu province were canceled, including flights by Philippine Airlines, which initially announced that more than 50 domestic flights would be canceled.

Glenn Napoli, the airport’s assistant general manager, said yesterday that authorities were working to resume flights throughout the day.

“We hope that by tomorrow (Monday) we will be able to remove the plane,” he explained.

An investigation is underway.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said: “All passengers are safe and under the supervision of ground staff.”

Four years ago, a Xiamen Airline plane skidded off the runway at Manila Airport, causing more than a hundred flights to be canceled until the Chinese plane was pulled from the mud more than a day later.

In 1981, a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 overshot the runway while taking off from the same airport and came to rest on the edge of a major highway.

More than a dozen of the approximately 350 people on board were injured in the incident, which saw the plane crash into a concrete fence and leave the front end jutting ominously over a busy side road.

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