A few days ago, ABS-CBNnews.com blogger Inday Espina-Varona boarded Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR731, which was scheduled to fly out 1:50pm Bangkok time. Unfortunately, it was nearly 7pm when the plane took off.
Espina-Varona explained, “Two mechanical problems, coming one after another, caused the delay. Shortly just past 1pm, as passengers settled down, the pilot, Captain Filomeno Tacan, announced that mechanics were patching up some engine leak problem. Take-off was called an hour later. A second engine malfunction delayed the flight anew. With only one emergency ground air-conditioning unit, the cabin grew hot. Crew had to open the main exit to let in some air.”
Throughout this ordeal, passengers understandably became uncomfortable and irate. That was when Tacan spoke through the public address system. He said, “Sorry sa nainip sa likod. Kami din dito nainip. Nobody wants a delay. Mas mainit dito sa cockpit kesa likod. (Sorry to those at the back who are getting impatient. So are we. Nobody wants a delay. It’s hotter in the cockpit than in the back).”
Tacan also added, “Pasensya lang kayo. Sa Mumbai, nadelay kami ten hours. Isipin niyo yan (We were delayed ten hours in Mumbai. Think about that).”
Bottom line: Tacan was against letting the passengers get off the plane despite the heat.
Understandably, some passengers were already afraid of the delay stretching longer. Others were also worried about the state of the plane. That was why they insisted that they wanted to voluntarily deplane. Tacan reportedly went out of the cockpit and declared, “I consider my life more important than anybody. That’s why I’m not lying. Otherwise, I won’t be with you.”
One of the passengers, a lawyer named Janet Francisco, told Tacan, “That’s your job, to protect the people.”
Tacan replied, “With that in mind, I’m more important than anybody else.” Tacan continued to say that the passengers should not get off the plane.
Nevertheless, Espina-Varona related, “Two busloads of passengers deplaned after verbally tussling with cabin crew and Tacan during three hours of waiting in a sweltering Airbus Industrie A340-300. Those who kept faith with PAL finally got off the ground after five hours. [We] landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 nine hours past boarding time [only] to discover all our luggage had been offloaded at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.”
She added, “PAL staff milled [about] but would not engage passengers until a foreign passenger began shouting and one other person threw a slip of paper at personnel manning the misplaced baggage counter. Once they learned what happened, jaws dropped. Raul Salvacion, an employee who took addresses and other passenger details said it was his first time to encounter this kind of case. He also said PAL in NAIA was not informed about the offloading of baggage.”
