Reasons to avoid flying Cebu Pacific

Cebu Pacific is the fastest growing airline and also the largest operator of Airbus equipment in the region. Like RyanAir - an airline it emulates rather too closely - it is a point-to-point operator and whilst its base fares can be cheap - if booked far enough in advance - it charges for baggage, cancellation and rebooking fees (which can be up to 100%), credit card processing fees, "web booking" charges and all snacks and beverages on board. Indeed all these extras often make Cebu Pacific's actual fares just as expensive, if not more so, than the scheduled carrier, Philippine Airlines.

But it is the events and aftermath that surrounds one of its flights, 5J 971, from Manila to Davao last Sunday late afternoon that should be really concerning. The aircraft used for that flight, an A320, was a late substitution for the aircraft that should have made that journey but had not yet arrived in Manila. As you will see from the links below, that was the start of a catalogue of errors made by the airline, its aircrew and the ground crew in Davao.



As you can see, Davao has a single runway (24/06) and two short taxiways with "turning circles" at each end of the runway. It is standard operating procedure for landing Cebu Pacific planes to brake hard on landing so that they can turn-off the runway at (preferably) the first or second taxiway whilst other airlines are more relaxed and their planes make full use of the runway and turning circles.

In brief, what happened was this: Cebu Pacific's 5J 971 approached from the northeast (runway 24) but, according to passengers, did not have its flaps down, on a VOR/DME approach which required that the cockpit crew had visual sight of the runway at all times. Just prior to touchdown, there was a rain burst and due to defective wipers, the crew lost sight of the runway. Standard operating procedure dictates that full power be applied, the nose raised and the aircraft aborts the landing. That didn't happen. Instead it hit the runway hard, the airbrakes and flaps auto-deployed and the wheel brakes were applied far too hard. The plane skidded to the right and ended up in a grassed ditch, snapping its nose wheel.

But what happened next is unforgivable.

One of the engines was on fire and the cabin filled with smoke - the smoke being ingested by the cabin's air-conditioning system. The cabin crew remained in their seats, probably overcome by shock and obviously not trained in emergency procedures. After a few minutes, the cabin crew told the passengers to remain seated and await instructions from the cockpit - despite the fact that passengers were panicking and demanding that the doors be opened. Meanwhile the cockpit crew had very obviously not declared an emergency to the Tower because no fire trucks or ambulances were dispatched to the scene (it is very likely that the heavy rain obscured the Controllers' view of the runway and assumed that the plane had simply come to a standstill; remember that it was now night time and all cabin lights were off as per CAAP regulations, therefore controllers would not have seen the unusual attitude of the plane.) It was only when a passenger, a senior officer in the Philippine Navy, assumed control - 23 minutes after touchdown - was a door opened and passengers began to be evacuated. According to reports, the 6th and 7th persons to leave the plane were its Captain and Co-pilot!

Passengers were left out in the heavy rain to await transport to the terminal which was both late in arriving and wholly inadequate. When passengers eventually reached the terminal, there were no Cebu Pacific personnel to meet them, no medical staff to attend to those who were by now poorly - a security guard did call the city's 911 but the CAAP airport manager refused to allow them entry on the grounds that, as far as he was aware, no passenger needed their services! It was some three hours later that a "medic" arrived equipped with nothing more than a stethoscope and an instrument for measuring blood pressure.

If you read this passenger's account, you will note that the pilot made four trips to the toilet in the space of one hour and that he appeared to be "dazed": could this as the result of him taking amphetamines or other drugs to stay awake?

Davao City's Mayor is taking this incident very seriously and its lawyers are helping passengers file law suits against the airline for its abysmal treatment of the passengers on that flight and the City itself is filing cases against the CAAP and airport management for their failures and mistakes.

Here are some links for further reading:

Cebu Pacific passengers recall frightening landing at Davao airport

Cebu Pacific apologizes for runway mishap in Davao

Davao execs vow to help passengers who may sue Cebu Pacific

I rather think that both the FAA and European regulators will be taking an interest in this and may well not lift the restrictions or, in Europe's case, the outright ban, currently affecting Philippine registered aircraft. Cebu Pacific may find that its order for A330 aircraft - for long-haul operations to Europe via the Gulf - was somewhat premature as one would hope that the regulators would require firm evidence that cockpit and cabin crews are properly trained to international standards and can deal with any emergency. Quite clearly, as this accident shows, they are totally incapable due to wholly inadequate training.

The following questions must surely be answered by the airline and the CAAP:

• Why wasn't the aircraft's defective windscreen wiper(s) fixed prior to the flight?
• Why weren't the flaps deployed on approach to slow-down the aircraft (the cynic in me suggests that this is a fuel-conservation issue as engine power must be then increased to compensate.)
• When the flight deck crew lost sight of the runway, why did they not abort the landing as the rules require?
• Having come to a complete stop, why did the pilot not order an immediate evacuation using all four doors? It took over 20 minutes before a passenger took control and even then only one door was used. This was an emergency, all four doors should have been used.
• Why did it take almost 6 minutes for a single fire truck to arrive at the scene, it didn't have to travel too far, and why did the airport authorities prevent first-responders from entering the airport?
• Why did the Captain and co-pilot leave the aircraft before all the passengers were evacuated - are their lives more important?

Despite press reports to the contrary, the airport remains closed for much of today (it reopened a couple of hours ago) today and all flights were diverted to General Santos, four hours away by road. At least PAL provided free air-conditioned buses but, apparently and rather cynically, CP charged for the "land ferry" trips. But the problems for passengers wasn't just the added four hour road trip: when they arrived at General Santos airport they were met by chaos and pandemonium as none of the baggage X-Ray scanners is operational and all baggage has to be unlocked, opened and searched.

Needless to say, all the Expat forums here are advising their members to think twice - and then twice again - before booking with this airline. Cebu Pacific is now to be boycotted by, among others, the Ateneo University (a major user) and other large institutional users.

One other similarity with Ryanair is that it is run by an Irishman. The COO is Mark Breen.

Some of those reports are surely wrong - there is no evidence of an engine fire in the pictures and had the cabin "filled with smoke" the passengers and crew would all be dead, as was the case with the Saudia Tri-Star:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudia_Flight_163


PPrune column on the overrrun here, but not very helpful:

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/516182-cebu-overrun.html

but much more interestingly go to the flight crew gossip here:

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/432380-new-exodus-cebu-pacific.html

and here:

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/452558-any-cebu-pacific-crew-here.html

and here:

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/294332-cebu-pacific-pay-adjustment.html

Personally I do fly them - OK I am a shipping man and the ferries terrify me even more.

The ferries terrify me too and there's no way I will travel on one - and I'm a former seafarer!

How about this assertion from [Lance] Gokongwei, Cebu Pacific's CEO (and the owner's son):

Ah, okay, so a plane lands too fast in pouring rain, skids off the runway breaking its nose wheel, both engines hit the concrete and flames are seen sprouting from one, smoke fills the darkened cabin and the crew are traumatised - and that's not an emergency?

And, please, what is "a precautionary disembarkation"? Does he not mean "delayed disembarkation" because the former would be carried-out in case a fire broke-out and would have been done somewhat more rapidly than after 23 or 24 minutes!

I suggest that the aircrew were very close to being "out of hours" when they were instructed to fly the round-trip to Davao which is one hour and fifty minutes each way - thus a duty roster of about 4 hours. Tiredness and bad weather coupled with rapid promotions and lack of training and experience all contributed to causing this accident.

Next time you feel the urge to fly to Zamboanga, Andrew, do check to see if there's a lifejacket in the underseat pocket but don't be at all surprised if it's not there. And I suggest you don't do what a Canadian expat did under such circumstance which was to point out the deficiency to a member of the crew. He was removed from the flight (Cebu to Hong Kong, a flight almost entirely over water) and not only did Cebu Pacific cancel his return portion, they didn't refund his fare either.

Mark, I think you are very probably "onto something" as regards the crew hours. Actually, I did check for the LJ's - all present - because I had been amused, flying HK/Clark, by the dire warnings given over the PA system about the dreadful consequences of the passengers stealing them! These warnings were repeated by Cebu Pacific. (On one occasion, of course, a PAL 747 had a bomb placed in the LJ pocket!).

I fancy Lance Gokongwei will have been told by his father that on these occasions "you keep schtum and let the
expatriate manager take the rap!" A classic case of "opening your mouth and removing all doubt!"

The pprune comments by pilots are quite enlightening. One gets the impression that the rapid expansion has thrown up a lot of issues.

Just to add to the woes, the EU has an inspection team in the country to determine whether safety and other procedures have been improved sufficiently to enable it to recommend lifting the airspace ban on Philippine carriers. Since it is the CAAP that is under the spotlight, its failures at Davao will doubtless come to the team's notice. The team may also be somewhat alarmed about the way in which Cebu Pacific's air and ground crews responded to the accident. But Cebu Pacific's management are in corporate denial that there was any emergency and claim that the aircraft landed normally!

Sara Duterte - who remains Davao's Mayor until July - has announced that the City Government intends to sue the CAAP for Php250 million which this incident has cost in terms of lost business due to the airport being closed far longer than it needed to be. That's partly down to the fact that Cebu Pacific's specialist "extraction team" from Singapore was unable to remove the plane, a job that CAAP's contractors took over and completed. But that was only after Duterte threatened to deploy all the scrap dealers in the city.

Cebu Pacific will likely have to answer a Class Action suit in the Davao courtroom being filed by a sizeable number of passengers on that flight. Calls to boycott the airline have also been made by the Dutertes who have ordered its employees not to book business flights on the airline and asked them not to use it for personal travel also. Similar calls for a boycott have been made by other senior politicians here.

I think it's fairly obvious. Cebu Pacific's planes are in the air from around 4am until around 2 - 2.30am the following morning; there should be at least four full crews for each plane but I suspect they only roster three.

Mark Breen, Cebu Pacific's Chief Operating Officer, isn't the only Expat to have a senior management position. Breen was formerly with SAMA, a Saudi low-cost carrier. Also at CebuPac is Garry Kingshott, formerly of Jet Lite (India), Ansett (didn't they go bust?) and South Australia Brewing Company; he's the Chief Executive's Adviser. And there's Tim Jordan, who is a "CCO" (Chief Commercial Officer?) but whose previous history is unknown.

One thing I've noticed over the last seven years is that there are no PR professionals here, that role seems to be given to young and attractive women who have no relevant training. Such is the case here with Candice Lyok, the Corporate Communications Manager, simply repeating her boss' line. A proper PR man would have advised his company's management to say nothing and would have issued a fairly bland yet contrite sounding statement.

Now here's an interesting point: it has been confirmed that the Instrument Landing System was (and is) fully operational at the airport, why didn't the flight deck crew opt for an instrument landing that night - considering the adverse weather conditions? Machismo, perhaps?

Well, I hold a private pilots license and a couple of years ago presented it on a zest air flight and asked for permission to fly jumpseat. The experience terrified me, as I've flown jump seat many times before and hold the ATPL (air transport pilots license) theoretical exams, so with my limited knowledge knew that procedures were lax. Our approach into Cebu was stabilised incredibly late and the copilot failed to properly flare for landing resulting a heavy touchdown, followed by a full blown argument in the cockpit.... If this was anything to go by, I would say I'm surprised more accidents don't occur.

Notams seem to suggest many recent issues with the ILS, also appreciate that other factors include flight crew and aircraft ILS compatibility.

Well, according to a radio interview with the captain of a PAL flight that arrived in Davao immediately ahead of that Cebu Pacific flight, the ILS was working perfectly. I know that there are continuous problems with both the ILS and VOR beacon at NAIA but all the systems in Davao are very new and "state of the art".

Is it conceivable that Cebu Pacific does not have ILS fitted to its aircraft - is it an option like a sunshine roof or Sat Nav in a car? After all it's another piece of kit they'd have to buy and maintain. Given that it was already raining and visibility would have been reduced, the sensible thing to do would have been to request an ILS approach but the crew requested a visual approach ....

It was an option around 1970; it is inconceivable that Cebu Pacific does not have ILS fitted to its aircraft.

The backchat in the flight deck forums on Pprune - mainly from expat pilots - is generally complimentary about Cebu Pacific's Filipino flight staff. But their breakneck expansion must impose a strain.

I endorse Mark's comments about PR in Phillipines corporations - a bunch of airhead girls who haven't a clue.

Cebu Pacific is in a bit more hot water. It has emerged that one of its turbo-prop ATR aircraft, inbound from Cagayan De Oro, landed a few minutes ahead of flight 5J 971 and smashed two runway lights with its undercarriage. The pilot and co-pilot failed to report the accident and only admitted to it when confronted by investigators days later.

It has also been established that there was a 12mph cross-wind at the time both aircraft landed and both aircrews would have been aware of that - having been given that information by the controller on giving the planes clearance to land.

More questions are being raised about that airline's training of its cockpit and cabin crews and the crews' competency in being able to handle adverse weather conditions and emergencies.

According to a Filipino of my acquaintance who flew to Manila for the day yesterday (on PAL!), the Cebu Pacific check-in desks were far less busy than normal. He did wonder how many flights the airline would cancel with passengers being rebooked on later flights when there would be a plane full.

Cebu Pacific may have reason to be grateful (not that their executives will be thinking so!) if a through investigation prompted by this incident, or chain of incidents, causes them to slow down in their expansion and sharpen up on their business practices.

I certainly hope so - I could see them riding for a fall in terms of a major fatal incident.

Of course, they are really competing for passengers with the ferries, who treat their pax like cattle anyway, so the idea of a flight being cancelled just because it is not full - just like a jeepney not leaving the terminus until full - is not so shocking to most pax.

Now I have flown Cebu Pacific a couple of times, even if I havent ridden on any of the island hopping ferries and my recollection was a good one. And great quizzes too, shortly after takeoff.

And some pre takeoff entertainment also.

Yes, I can understand your concern. Thanks for highlighting.

Both of which have come under justifiable criticism recently. If Cebu Pacific spent more time training its cabin staff on how to behave and react to emergencies and less time on gimmicks, they wouldn't be in the bother they now find themselves in. I would suggest that a company that condones dancing to pop music during a legally-required safety briefing simply demonstrates that the company places little emphasis on the safety of its passengers.

Three weeks ago, Mae and I went to Cebu and had to fly Cebu Pacific as both AirPhils and PAL Express were fully booked. They played the safety briefing pre-recorded tape but all the flight attendants took their seats and strapped themselves in. There they remained for the entire trip which was smooth; thankfully no inane games and no trolley service - no doubt "no stock".

I sincerely hope that Cebu Pacific is stripped of its Operators Licence and its fleet grounded for as long as it takes for all its flight and ground staff to be properly trained to international standards.

A business owned by John Gokongwei won't be grounded!

Remember he bought those planes for cash.

They will get a smack on the wrists.

What?! Some HS and E. Surely not! It would destroy the charm of flying Cebu Pacific.

Jesting aside, I felt more comfortable flying Cebu Pacific than I ever did flying Libyan Arab airlines.

True but many of the new planes he has on order will be leased.

But I fear you may be right. Unless .... you know that inspectors from the EU are in town, they arrived just before this accident. As the CAAP's past failings to regulate and ensure safety standards are met resulted in the Philippines being downgraded to Category 2, which in turn lead to the banning of all Philippine aircraft from European airspace, the CAAP's action over this accident may well have wider consequences. Or possibly the EU may single-out Cebu Pacific for a continued ban and allow PAL back in if the CAAP simply says to Lance, "who's been a naughty boy, then".

This raises the question of which airline one should choose to fly with, if flying internally in the Philippines.

I have abstracted these reports from Wikipedia:


Cebu Pacific:

On February 2, 1998, Cebu Pacific Flight 387, a DC-9-32 travelling from Manila to Cagayan de Oro, crashed on the slopes of Mount Sumagaya in Misamis Oriental, killing all 104 people on board.[33]
On April 10, 2012, Cebu Pacific Flight 640 sideswiped the wing of a nearby boarding Zest Air plane on the tarmac of Puerto Princesa Airport in Palawan province, breaking the latter's guide lights.[34]
On June 2, 2013, Cebu Pacific Flight 971 carrying 165 passengers inbound from Manila, overshot the runway in Francisco Bangoy International Airport during a heavy rain. There were no fatalities, however the plane was heavily damaged.[35]

PAL Express:

On June 24, 1996, an Air Philippines YS-11 aircraft struck a ground power unit while taxiing at Naga Airport (WNP). The aircraft caught fire. There were no fatalities among the 34 aircraft occupants.[9]
On April 19, 2000, Air Philippines Flight 541, a Boeing 737-200 crashed near Francisco Bangoy International Airport, Davao City, killing 131 people.[10][11]
On February 13, 2012, Airphil Express Flight 969, an Airbus A320-200 with 135 people on board, overshot the runway at Kalibo International Airport, Kalibo, Aklan. No injuries or aircraft damage occurred in the incident.[12]
On April 23, 2012: an Airphil Express flight to Tawi-Tawi from Zamboanga City was aborted as smoke emitted from the right turboprop engine of the plane. The plane was about to take off when pilots noticed the smoke prompting them to park and order around 50 passengers to disembark shortly after 7:00 in the morning.[13]

Zest Air:

On December 7, 1999, Asian Spirit Flight 100, a Let L-410, crashed between Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya and Cabarroguis in Quirino, killing all 15 passengers on board and 2 crew. The plane was headed for Cauayan Airport in Cauayan City. The accident forced the closure of the Manila-Cauayan route, which remained closed until Philippine Airlines restarted the route on August 15, 2008.[21][22]
On September 4, 2002, Asian Spirit Flight 897 was the last flight of the day to Malay, departing Manila at 3:36 pm for a one-hour flight. During the approach to Malay, the right main gear failed to deploy. The approach was abandoned and the crew decided to return to Manila for an emergency landing. The plane circled for about 35 minutes over Las Piñas City to burn off fuel. The crew then carried out an emergency landing with the right gear retracted on Manila's international airport runway 24. After touchdown the aircraft swerved off the runway onto a grassy area.[23]
On November 14, 2005, Asian Spirit Flight 587, a BAe-146-200, reportedly hydroplaned and overran runway 04/22, a 4,429-foot (1350 m) long concrete runway at Catarman National Airport. The aircraft came to rest in a muddy rice field.[24]
On January 2, 2008, Asian Spirit Flight 321, an NAMC YS-11 departing from Manila, piloted by Captain Alexandro Tiglao with First Officer Dominick Mendoza as co-pilot, overshot the runway at Masbate Airport at 7:30 a.m., due to heavy tailwinds with gusts reaching 14 knots while landing on runway 21. Although none of the 47 passengers were seriously injured, the accident destroyed the aircraft's nozzle, the plane's right propeller and its right and nose wheel, and caused the plane's fuel tank to leak.[25]

Air Asia

Air Asia Philippines only has two A320s and has been in business for two years, so I checked its very muhc larger Malaysian parent which also seems to be accident free, according to Wiki, however further digging produced this incident at Kuching which looks very similar to the Cebu Pacific episode at Davao:

http://avherald.com/img/airasia_a320_9m-ahh_kuching_110110_1.jpg