Chaos at airport terminal

Chaos was the scene at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal Saturday afternoon as airline staffs were overwhelmed by thousands of passengers hurrying to board their flights.

The crowd apparently built up in the last 36 hours when a plane that hard landed and skidded in a runway Friday forced the airport to suspend flights and worked overnight on Saturday to remove it from the way.

“Situation in NAIA terminal 1 getting worst as you can see in the video. Some passengers need medical assistance especially the elder due to long line in the check-in counter but no airline staff could give assistance. They can’t even arrange their line in the counter especially Philippine Airline,” reported Anthony Ching, who caught the pandemonium on video.

One netizen belied in a tweet an Inquirer news report that operation at the airport was normal and lambasted Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade despite his public apology over the inconvenience.

“It’s A TOTAL MESS. DOTR APOLOGY AMOUNTS To NOTHING. WHAT THE AIRPORT NEEDS IS SOMEONE TO PUT THINGS IN ORDER. THEY MIXED THE REBOOKING, SIMPLE OFFLOADING OF LUGGAGE TOGETHER WITH THOSE FLYING TODAY. RESULT: PANDEMONIUM” read the tweet from the angry passenger.

“I am saddened by the inconveniences and consequences brought about by the incident involving Xiamen Air,” said Tugade in a statement.

“It is a regrettable experience, which is not of our own liking, nor of our own making. I am sorry. We did our very best to address the situation,” the secretary said.

Tugade said the incident “served as an eye-opener–a reminder for us to take a second look at the processes, procedures, and protocols of concerned agencies, as well as airlines, so that we may all improve in the future.”

“Again, on behalf of the entire DOTr Family, I am deeply sorry,” he added. (Video from Anthony Ching)