The pilot of the troubled Xiamen aircraft has been barred from leaving the country

The head of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) operator Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) lumped the blame on airlines for the collapse in airport operations on Friday and Saturday which earned for him a bigger outrage from affected travelers.

Monreal earlier had issued a press statement saying NAIA operations were back to normal amid the mayhem happening at the airport.

A Xiamen Airlines aircraft on Thursday evening landed on its belly and skidded onto a grassy portion of the airport, ripping off its left engine and blocking the NAIA runway until Saturday noon.

At a press briefing, Monreal said that airlines should be “bold enough” to face disgruntled passengers amid the cancellation and delay of dozens of flights at the NAIA.

Monreal, who said that 30,000 flyers were affected by the 36-hour closure on NAIA, also accused Xiamen airlines of mounting four recovery flights on Saturday “without clearance from MIAA.” He said this caused a problem with the gate assignment of planes that delayed the boarding and disembarking of passengers from other flights.

Asked what MIAA has done about the Xiamen breach, he said the agency does not have authority “to penalize Xiamen and other airlines that snub protocols and moral responsibility.”

Disgruntled passengers, however, pinned the blame squarely on MIAA and Monreal. On social media, an irate passenger said Monreal should “sleep on the NAIA floor for three days without food then we will accept his apology.”

Another tweeted that “due to the NAIA incident, we are also stranded in Dubai.”

“However, the big difference is our airlines booked us in a hotel as soon as they confirmed the incident,” according to the social media post.

“I have heard a lot of accusations being made at the MIAA, I’m appealing to the airlines to be bold enough. The situation is abnormal right now, let’s be man enough. Let’s not pass the blame,” Monreal said.

Some passengers indeed complained that some airlines have failed to give updates on what was happening and to provide stranded individuals with their requirements.

Monreal claimed that an airline firm asked MIAA officials to face passengers on its behalf while some of those stranded blamed the government for flight disruptions.

“I am appealing to the airlines to be bold enough. If they are at fault, we should accept it.

We are not perfect and the situation is abnormal right now,” he said.

“Just be man enough. If we are at fault, we will admit it. But let’s not pass the blame, let’s not do finger-pointing,” he added.

He apologized anew to passengers who suffered long delays and enduring hours of being stranded in the airport urging them “to remain calm in dealing with airline representatives.”

He added that an investigation into the runway mishap is under way although most of the problems that resulted in the airport chaos happened following the restart of airport operations.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) added the pilot of the troubled Xiamen aircraft has been barred from leaving the country.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the pilot has been asked to appear before the CAAP today as part of the agency’s investigation.

Apolonio said CAAP officials will have to determine if the incident was a force majeure or was due to pilot error.

The plane was carrying 157 passengers and eight crew members when it veered off the runway upon landing at NAIA before Thursday midnight. Officials earlier had said it was the second attempt to land by the pilot.