Saipan airport runway back to full operation

  After 17 hours of being closed down, the Saipan airport’s main runway is now back in operation for outbound and inbound flights, according to Commonwealth Ports Authority acting executive director Edward Mendiola.

Mendiola confirmed yesterday that the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport’s Runway 7/25 was opened at 5:25am Wednesday.

He said CPA assessment was completed. F-16 Fighting Falcon made an emergency landing around 11am Tuesday.

The mishap resulted in the shutdown of the airport’s main runway. The F-16’s lone occupant-the pilot-was unhurt and the military immediately investigated the incident. Sources earlier disclosed that hydraulic issues caused the emergency landing.

Andersen Air Force Base in Guam earlier said that the F-16 Falcon fighter, which was part of a training mission in support of COPE North 2012 and assigned to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, had rolled off the end of the Saipan runway.

Later, a U.S. Air Force statement said that the aircraft was towed by U.S. Air Force personnel off the runway around 5:25am yesterday to allow airfield operations to resume.

Mendiola and other ports officials confirmed that the F-16 Falcon is still on the island and is being repaired by the U.S. military. Mendiola said they don’t know when the repair work would be completed.

Mendiola disclosed that CPA’s assessment showed no damage to the runway. He declined, however, to disclose information about the military’s separate assessment and investigation of the incident.

Two flights by Asiana Airlines and Delta Air Lines were cancelled Tuesday as a result of the mishap: Flight 298 from Narita, Japan, and Flight 603 from Seoul, South Korea. An estimated 700-plus passengers were affected, not including passengers who were stranded at the airport since Tuesday afternoon.

Sources told Saipan Tribune that following the opening of the main runway yesterday morning, two diverted flights from Guam by Delta Air Lines were accommodated at 6:15am and 1:26pm. These were followed by other commercial flights from Korea and Japan.

‘Sablan’s body onboard delayed flight’

Saipan Tribune learned that the 6:15am Delta Flight 288 was carrying the remains of Sgt. George Joseph Affatica Sablan, who died on Feb. 10, 2012, after collapsing during physical training at a U.S. Army camp in Honolulu, Hawaii. His body was expected to arrive Tuesday but was delayed as a result of the runway incident.

According to Mendiola, rehabilitation work on the main runway continued yesterday. Based on the project’s schedule, the ongoing work on Runway 7/25 will be completed on June 3, 2012.

Meantime, the airport’s runway 6/24-or the taxiway-is always open to accommodate flights of mostly smaller aircraft.