Pilot dead in plane crash site; hope up female passenger alive

By Vince Jacob Visaya

SAN MARIANO, Isabela -- The body of the pilot of the Piper plane that went missing last week was found Thursday by a search and rescue team in the jungles of the Sierra Madre rainforests.
    However, the lone female passenger was "not found in the vicinity" of the crash site here in Barangay Casala, the Incident Management Team reported Thursday, Dec. 7, giving hope to rescuers she surived.
    The plane's pilot was identified as Capt. Levy Abul 2nd while the lone passenger was Erma Escalante, 43, of Palanan town, Isabela.
"Around 11 a.m. of Dec. 7, rescuers that were dispatched a day earlier reached the wreckage of the Piper plane," said Joshua Hapinat, spokesman of the IMT, in a statement.
    "Sadly, the pilot was found lifeless. The lone passenger was not found in the vicinity. However, she appears to have survived the crash as indicated by a makeshift shelter that she presumably put up near the wreckage."
    The Piper PA-32-300 plane owned by the Fliteline Airways and operated by Cyclone Airways, departed Cauayan Airport at 9:39 a.m. on Nov. 30 and was supposed to arrive at Palanan Airport at 10:23 a.m. on the same day.
    Rescuers brought the remains of the pilot to a helicopter landing zone, hoisted aboard, and then flown to the Tactical Operations Group 2 in Cauayan City," Hapinat said.
    Teams of K9 trackers, who were earlier on standby, were fetched from their locations to be brought to Cauayan City.
    "The K9 trackers will be flown and dropped near the wreckage. Starting at the site of the wreckage, the K9 trackers will then follow the path that the passenger took through the scent that she left on the vegetation that she passed by," he added.
    The IMT has not released photographs or videos of the wreckage site to the media.