Philippine Airlines (PAL) is reviewing the diversion of Flight PR2679 after the aircraft encountered windshear while attempting to land at Clark International Airport, as the airline moved to tamp down mounting online scrutiny over the incident.
In a statement, the flag carrier said the Saturday flight from Busuanga to Clark aborted its landing approach after it “encountered windshear conditions, prompting the pilots to execute a standard missed approach procedure in accordance with established safety protocols.”
The airline said worsening weather conditions over Clark later forced the crew to divert the flight to Manila, where the aircraft landed safely and passengers were assisted.
However, PAL also sharply pushed back against conclusions drawn from publicly available flight tracking data, after online observers dissected the aircraft’s movements.
“Preliminary interpretations based solely on publicly available flight tracking data do not provide a complete or authoritative picture of the aircraft’s performance or the prevailing flight conditions,” the airline said.
PAL insisted that “the crew remained in full control of the aircraft at all times” and said the aircraft’s ascent and descent rates were “consistent with windshear avoidance and recovery procedures under the prevailing conditions.”
“As part of normal protocol, Philippine Airlines is conducting a review of the incident, the results of which will be reported to the appropriate authorities,” PAL said.
The airline added that “safety remains our highest priority” and stressed that its pilots “are trained to take the most prudent course of action whenever weather conditions are not conducive for landing.”