Crashed plane located in Apayao; pilot, stude dead

Rescue and medical team deployed at the crash site.PTV

The missing Cessna plane that crashed in Apayao province. (File photo courtesy of OCD-Region 2)

By Alfred Dizon and Villamor Visaya Jr. 

CAMP DANGWA, La Trinidad, Benguet  --The pilot and Indian student pilot of the missing Echo Air Cessna training plane found crashed in Apayao were found dead Wednesday afternoon, the police regional  information office said in a report.
    The two passengers on board the Missing RP-C8598 Cessna 152 plane were identified as Capt. Edzel John Lumbao Tabuzo from San Juan City and student pilot Anshum Rajkumar Konde, an Indian national.
    They were found dead by the search team at the crash site.
    The cadavers of the victims were brought to Amma Jadsac District Hospital, Poblacion, Pudtol, Apayao, while investigation is on to determine circumstances surrounding the incident.
    Apayao provincial police director Col. Jefferson Cariaga immediately deployed a search rescue and retrieval team to the area after receiving a report regarding a Cessna plane that crashed while on training flight between the municipalities of Luna and Pudtol, the Camp Dangwa report said.
    Previous reports disclosed the plane took off from Laoag, Ilocos Norte, on Tuesday, August 1, days after Typhoon Egay swept through the Cordillera.
    It was supposed to land in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.
    The airplane was last detected in Alcala town, Cagayan, before losing contact.

According to Apayao Provincial Police Office, an incident command post was established at Salvacion Elementary School, while the joint search rescue team of Apayao PPO, Bureau of Fire Protection, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Marines, Apayao Disaster Risk Management Office, Luna MDRRMC, Barangay Salvacion BDRMMC, and community volunteers conducted search and rescue operations.

After more than six hours, the crash site was found in the boundary between Barangay Salvacion in Luna and San Mariano Pudtol town afternoon of August 3.

Earlier reports said the Cessna plane was reported missing in Cagayan on Tuesday. Apayao Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head Joeffrey Borromeo said.

A medical and rescue team on board a Black Hawk helicopter of the Philippine Air Force reportedly spotted the plane's wreckage and the cadavers of Tabuzo and Konde. 

Citing information from Borromeo, the Cagayan provincial government said in a statement “Natagpuan rin ang dalawang sakay nito ngunit kapwa wala nang buhay.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the plane was reported missing on Tuesday afternoon after departing from Laoag International Airport at 12:16 p.m.

It failed to arrive at its destination, which was supposed to be at Tuguegarao Airport at 3:16 p.m.

The plane, operated by Echo Air, took off at around 12:16 p.m. from the Laoag International Airport on Tuesday and was supposed to arrive at around 3:16 p.m. at the Tuguegarao airport in Cagayan.

The CAAP earlier said it received an INCERFA message from the Tuguegarao flight service station (FSS), about the safety of an aircraft and its passengers, at around 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday.

Tuguegarao FSS searched with aviation authorities in Cauayan, Vigan and Lallo, but received no information on the location of the plane.

A missionary helicopter reportedly tried to conduct search and rescue operations, but returned due to bad weather in the area.

The Cagayan public information office said the last known position of the trainer plane at that time was reported at 32 nautical miles northwest of Alcala, Cagayan, at an altitude of 7,500 feet.