No passengers harmed after Korean Air flight overshoots runway at Filipino airport

A Korean Air plane overran the runway Sunday at an airport in the Philippines, while attempting to land during bad weather.

Bloomberg reported the plane, an Airbus A330-300 designated Korean Air Flight KE631, had taken off from Seoul bound for Mactan Cebu International Airport, the second-busiest airport in the Phillippines. On approach to Mactan Cebu during a storm, flight tracking radar showed the plane circling the airport twice before attempting to land.

The rainy weather caused KE631 to overshoot the runway and become lodged in the grass beyond, where it remained Monday. No injuries were reported among the 162 passengers and 11 crew members, per The Associated Press. The plane itself was not so lucky, though, as AP reported that the front underbelly of the Airbus was ripped off, with additional damage to the plane's nose and top.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

At least 50 domestic flights were forced to be redirected and diverted as Mactan Cebu remains closed, as the damaged Airbus is blocking the airport's single usable runway.

In a statement obtained by AP, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines reiterated, "All passengers are safe and being attended by ground personnel."

Korean Air President Keehong Woo apologized for the incident in a press release, in which he promised that a "thorough investigation will be performed together with the local aviation authorities and Korean authorities."

"We always prioritize safety in all of our operations, and we truly regret the stress and inconvenience brought to our passengers," Woo added.