AirAsia flight overshoots runway in Kalibo, Philippines

[DefJam]

AirAsia flight overshoots runway in Kalibo, Philippines

Date December 30, 2014 - 11:22PM

Lucy Cormack
Reporter

Jet Damazo-Santos tweeted this photo of passengers leaving the plane via emergency slides. Photo: Twitter.com/@jetdsantos

Passengers on an AirAsia flight landing in the Philippines have been forced to use emergency exit slides after the aircraft overshot the runway.

AirAsia flight Z2272 was flying from Manila to Kalibo, in the central Philippines. No passengers or crew were hurt in the incident.

"AirAsia Philippines confirms flight Z2272 from Manila skidded off the Kalibo International Airport runway at 5.43pm (8.43pm AEDT) upon landing," AirAsia said in a statement on Tuesday night.

"All 153 passengers and crew were able to disembark safely, no injuries reported. All passengers are now at a hotel assisted by AirAsia staff."

In pictures posted on Twitter, the plane appears to have landed on a grassed area at Kalibo Airport.

Jet Damazo-Santos, a journalist for Rappler – a news website based in the Philippines – tweeted the events of the emergency landing, but said no one had been injured.

"Nobody seems to be hurt. Weather was bad because of #senangph Plane came to a very abrupt stop," she tweeted.

"Engine was shut immediately, we were told to leave bags, deplane asap. Firetruck was waiting. Seems handled well."

Parts of the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Thailand have been battered by heavy rain and flash floods in recent days, killing dozens of people, although it is not known if the weather was the reason for the incident at Kalibo.

Reports said Kalibo Airport had closed after the incident.

According to pictures tweeted by Ms Damazo-Santos, elderly passengers on board the flight had their blood pressure checked after they disembarked the aircraft.

On Tuesday afternoon, the mystery of AirAsia flight QZ8501 was solved with the news from Indonesian authorities that the wreckage of the plane had been found in shallow water, with all 162 passengers presumed dead.