Dozens of passengers on a Cebu Pacific Air plane forced to make an emergency landing at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) in eastern Malaysia state Sabah have chosen to make their own way back to Singapore, their original destination, instead of waiting for a replacement flight.
The travellers from Cebu, a mix of Filipinos and Singaporeans, had been put up in a hotel in Kota Kinabalu by the Philippine airline. But despite on-site assistance from airline staff, passengers who spoke to The Straits Times said they decided not to wait another night to complete what was meant to be a routine four-hour journey to Singapore.
They would have been expected to go through another layover in Kuala Lumpur with Cebu Pacific Air, as the airline does not offer direct flights from Sabah to Singapore.
Their original plane, which left the Philippines at around 7.55pm on Wednesday, was scheduled to land in Singapore just before midnight but encountered problems with its left engine during the flight, a KKIA official said.
The pilot made an emergency landing in Kota Kinabalu at about 10.20pm. There were 92 crew members and passengers on the plane, which was in the air for just under two hours – around half the usual flight time from Cebu to Singapore – according to data from flight trackers.
Ms Chelonae Damayo, a passenger on the Airbus plane with the flight code 5J547, recorded the ordeal on Instagram “in case anything happens”. She also captured an audio recording of the pilot announcing that there was an “engine malfunction” and that the flight was under control but would be diverted to Sabah.
Another passenger on the same row as her, Mr Ryan Fernando, said he was sitting on the left side of the plane where he could see the damaged engine. He saw “two flashes of flames, like a flamethrower” and confirmed it with a flight attendant.
“One of the plane engines caught on fire, two loud bangs were heard,” Ms Damayo, 28, said. “Plane was wiggling and unstable for 12 minutes and we had to do an emergency landing. I was so terrified... Flight attendants and passengers were crying.”
Passenger Edward Vistro, 41, said he was getting more worried when he saw a flight attendant in tears. But he credited the flight captain for keeping passengers calm by updating them optimally.
The aircraft “safely landed” at KKIA, said Cebu Pacific. “We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience. Cebu Pacific is currently working on bringing the passengers to their intended destination.”
An airport official at KKIA, Mr Jamree Yumi, earlier told ST that plans were afoot for a “rescue aircraft” from Philippine capital Manila to pick up the passengers in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday night and fly them to Singapore.
A member of the flight crew confirmed that this was one of the proposed options for completing the passengers’ trip to Singapore, adding that the crew would be taken back to Manila.
But, as at 8.30pm, passengers who spoke to ST said they had not received any offer for a replacement flight from the airline. Many had already left Malaysia at their own expense after spending a night in Kota Kinabalu to catch up on lost time in Singapore.
The 80-odd passengers had created a chat group to share information, said Mr Vistro. Most, like him, chose to book their own flights, even without assurance that Cebu Pacific Air would reimburse them.
Ms Damayo said the airline provided accommodation and meals but has been less forthcoming with updates on how they would continue their journey.
She said there were unconfirmed suggestions from Cebu Pacific ground crew that passengers could fly to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur on Friday, but she and a group of new acquaintances opted for a direct flight on the same morning instead.
“If there’s one positive thing this incident has (resulted in), it’s definitely gaining a lot of friends,” the tattoo parlour owner said.
