Search confirms 4 died in Cessna plane crash
THE bodies of four passengers on board the Cessna aircraft that went missing in Albay over the weekend have already been found, Camalig town Mayor Carlos Baldo said Thursday, February 23, 2023.In a radio interview, Baldo said the bodies were found near the wreckage of the airplane, near the crater of Mayon Volcano. "Nandun lang sila sa may pinagbagsakan pero hindi doon sa loob ng eroplano," he said. (They were just there at the crash site but not inside the plane. )He said the retrieval operation is ongoing.Baldo said that due to difficult terrain that makes the use of aircraft impossible, rescuers will have to walk for around four hours to bring down the bodies from the crash site.He said the remains of the crash victims would be brought down the volcano on Thursday, February 23.Baldo said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will be the one to deal with the ill-fated aircraft.More than a dozen Army troops and firefighters were dropped off from an air force helicopter Wednesday morning, February 22, then they hiked to the crash site on a gully on Mayon volcano’s slope, CAAP officials said.In a statement, Energy Development Corporation (EDC) President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Tantoco identified the four individuals who perished in the incident as Captain James Crisostomo, the pilot and an EDC employee; Joel Martin, also an employee of the company; Simon Chipperfield, advisor; and Karthi Santhanam, a consultant.“We stand in compassion and deep sorrow with the families of our fallen kapamilyas in this unthinkable tragedy. The wreckage was spotted in an aerial search on Sunday, February 19, on the slope of the 8,077-foot (2,462-meter) volcano but an air force helicopter only managed to ferry the search team near the crash site Wednesday morning after the weather improved.Only the tail section of the plane remained intact with the rest of the wreckage scattered on the barren upper slopes of the volcano, said Eric Apolonio, spokesperson of CAAP.Villagers are normally prohibited from entering a permanent danger zone six kilometers (3.7 miles) around the volcano, which last erupted in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of people.But the volcano-monitoring agency allowed the high-risk search and rescue effort on Mayon, one of the country's 24 most active volcanoes, with a warning for the team members to be alert for sudden emission of volcanic ash and gas or sudden mudflows if rain fell on the slopes.
26 days ago
SUNSTAR
21 days ago
SUNSTAR
