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Pilot error, turbulence & bad weather

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 ajay Leave a comment

Most of my friends have their own horror stories about flying but most of it is about the plane being shaky and uncomfortable mid-flight. Once on a 5J trip to Coron, Palawan, turbulence was so bad for the whole stretch that my seatmates were retching to death on the barf bags and I was trying to humor myself by talking to the stewardess and asking her why the pilot has been quiet throughout

However, I’ve figured out that turbulence is not really the culprit for most air accidents, although this one doesn’t paint a pretty picture either.

Aftermath photo of the chaos onboard an SQ A380 plane after it hit clear air turbulence & dropped to 100 feet in a flight from Singapore to London last May 26, 2013. (via Facebook)

When things like this happen, it doesn’t matter whether you fly budget or Star Alliance, you see. But the records would show most incidents happen during takeoffs, landings and the state of the weather.

The pictures appearing on the web of the Cebu Pacific flight 5J 971 that closed down Davao International Airport for several days give one the goosebumps. Everyone is lucky and it seems that the heavens were really blessing everyone on board this flight because nothing worse happened (like an explosion).

Photo via The Aviation Herald (av.com):

Funny because I also took a Cebu Pacific flight on this same weekend (Manila-Cebu v.v.) The civil aviation body’s initial findings show pilot error as a likely cause of 5J 971′s missing the runway. This flight’s passengers found it weird that the pilot used the toilet four times in a span of one hour. Whether LBM or other troubles caused his error in judgment remains to be seen

Now I can compare another airline’s handling of the same situation. Two weeks ago, I was on a Philippine Airlines flight from Hong Kong. The pilot already announced that we were about to land and indeed, I thought we were less than 5 minutes short of touching the runway. But then again, heavy rains and a thunderstorm came which made our plane stay on the air and divert to Clark International Airport for refueling. It was a hassle thinking about a trip taking five hours instead of two but as a traveller, safety is paramount and it’s indeed supremely better to arrive at your destination in one piece than in several (ouch!)

Post script: The latest incident makes me think Cebu Pacific may have the youngest fleet and the youngest crew but they are also the youngest in experience. Hope the fiasco makes them a better airline

Cebu Pacific Manila-Siem Reap (& vice versa)

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013 ajay Leave a comment

It was my first time to try Cebu Pacific outside of their Hong Kong-Macau flights and had a good experience (disclaimer: this is NOT a sponsored post, LOL). I just had to be in this flight because am trying to make a list of all the exotic places I want to visit in Asia and Siem Reap (home of the Angkor Wat) is one of them.

Cebu Pacific is the only local airline right now flying straight to Siem Reap and for the savvy traveler, this is definitely faster than taking the overland route from Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. Travel time is two hours 45 minutes. The flights were full both ways and I did notice a considerable number of foreigners, even on the way back. Most of them were just transiting in NAIA 3 on the way to other Philippine destinations like Cebu, Palawan, Boracay and Bohol. This is definitely good news for Philippine tourism, and at least our tourists are able to pass through NAIA Terminal 3 instead of the old and faded Terminal 1.

For their Manila-Siem Reap flight, Cebu Pacific uses the standard Airbus A320 with a seating capacity of 179. Turbulence factor was 2/10 but it wasn’t even bad enough to make the pilot turn on the “fasten your seatbelt sign” (maybe am just the queasy one!)

My only complaint really is getting myself to try their food & beverage onboard as none of the selections appeal to me at the moment. And seriously, P350 for a single serving of kaldereta?? At that price, 5J would do well to team up with a reputable food service provider like Via Mare or the LJC Group.

Cebu Pacific’s web check in was rather pointless as you’d still have to face the long lines (no special web check in counters I saw). Mostly with this system, they’re just trying to save money by letting you print your own boarding pass, eh heh. Their advice that you can arrive in the airport 45 minutes before departure when you’re checked in online is also misleading. Do so at your own risk (the risk of being left by the airplane!)

More NAIA 3 pics:

European delegation at the baggage carousel -

Whatever happened to creativity? This tarp is just plain and drab. Without even a smiling face in there, it’s not inviting anybody to have more fun in the Philippines.

People from DTI put up a poster of The Passenger Bill of Rights. Don’t forget

Up next: my Siem Reap experience

Manila-Dubai flights by Cebu Pacific

January 17, 2013January 17, 2013 ajay Leave a comment

Leading Philippine budget carrier Cebu Pacific finally says hello to long-haul flights with an 888 seat sale for Manila-Dubai (vice versa) which will launch on October 7, 2013.

The company will be using its newly-leased Airbus A330s which will also be used for another forthcoming Middle East route, Saudi Arabia. The A330 will seat 436 passengers and is of course bigger than the Airbus A320s which the carrier uses throughout its Asian destinations. Flight time from Manila to Dubai is approximately nine hours.

Using the seat sale price of P888, we tried to do a mock booking on the Cebu Pacific website and netted a total fare of P11,640. While the fare from Manila-Dubai-Manila added up to P1,776, the low fare was eaten up by taxes and fees amounting to P9,864.(ouch) Still, this is not such a bad price considering that Dubai fares are priced from $500-$1000 in other non-budget airlines (Emirates included). Cebu Pacific’s year-round fare for Manila-Dubai is P7,999.

As part of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is one hour away from Oman and Abu Dhabi, three hours by flight to other cities of the Middle East like Cairo, Egypt and a five to six hour flight away from European cities like Paris.