A de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 had operated an uneventful domestic flight from El Nido Palawan to Manilla in the Phillippines *(onboard only 2 pilots) and was taxing under ATC guidance to via taxiway F1 to its parking position. ATC instructed the crew of the Twin Otter to hold short of Runway 13 as a Philippine Airlines Boeing 737-3y0 was about to start its take-off run.
The accident site shortly after the collision between the two aircraft © Reuter
The Boeing 737-3y0 was scheduled to fly from Manila to Bacolod, its crew had completed their checklists and received their take-off clearance. The take-off was initiated and the Boeing 737 started accelerating down Runway 13. Unbeknown to the crew of the Boeing and ATC, the crew of the Twin Otter had misinterpreted the taxi instructions issued to them by ATC.
While the Boeing 737 accelerated the Twin Otter started crossing the runway. The Boeing struck the Twin Otter.
As the Boeing had just started its takeoff roll its speed was still low, it still dragged the Twin Otter along over a distance of 130 meters (426 feet).
The Boeing 737 and its take-off path are depicted in yellow and the Twin Otter is depicted in red in the positions as intended by the ATC instructions. (Airport chart source www.platinumairways.org // aircraft positions added by V2Aviation.org
The Twin Otter was severely damaged, with both its pilots getting injured while the Boeing 737 was only slightly damaged on its nose, with all of its occupants remaining unharmed. The probable cause was determined to be;
"Failure of the crew of the Twin Otter to follow instruction, starting to cross the active runway while an aircraft (the Boeing 737) was taking off"
We were unable to locate an official report on this accident.
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