By Ariel Fernandez
Airport operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) continued smoothly on Wednesday after a late-night ground accident involving aircraft from Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Saudia Airlines.
The incident occurred at 11:38 p.m. on July 7, when Saudia Flight SV871, a Boeing 787 bound for Jeddah, clipped the tail of a parked PAL Airbus A320 while taxiing for departure.
The collision damaged the PAL jet’s vertical stabilizer and the Saudia aircraft’s wingtip.
Authorities confirmed that no injuries were reported. Philippine Airlines noted that no passengers or crew were on board its aircraft, while Saudia passengers were safely disembarked after the flight was cancelled.
Despite the accident, New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) assured the public that airport operations were not significantly affected.
Ground safety teams quickly secured the area, repositioned the aircraft, and coordinated with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Both planes have been withdrawn from service for technical assessment, and a full investigation is underway.
NNIC emphasized that NAIA remains fully operational, with flights and ground activities proceeding as scheduled.
