By Martin A. Sadongdong
The light airplane that crashed in Plaridel, Bulacan killing 10 persons last Saturday was bound for a maintenance check flight in Batanes, authorities said yesterday.
The Bulacan Police Provincial Office said that they are still conducting follow-up investigation to determine why the Piper Lance2 PA-32-300 aircraft crashed as witnesses have different versions of what happened.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesperson Eric Apolonio said that the aircraft was supposed to fly to Batanes for a maintenance check flight after its intended ferry flight to the Laoag International Airport in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
“After its ferry flight to Laoag, it’s supposed to go to Itbayat in Batanes for a check flight, meaning to have its maintenance check or to check on other aircrafts,” Apolonio said.
“Maaaring mag-u-undergo ng maintenance check but the CAAP approved its flight because the plane was good to go, otherwise it will not allow the plane to fly if there are problems,” Apolonio assured.
Apolonio said two CAAP teams – the CAAP-Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board and the CAAP-Flight Safety Inspectorate Service – have been tasked to investigate the crash.
He said the CAAP-AIIB will focus on the “accident investigation” or matters on the accident itself while the CAAP-FSIS will check on the technicalities of the aircraft, including its air worthiness, the pilot’s condition, and maintenance.
He assured that they would be in close coordination with the Bulacan police on the investigation but said that it might take one month before the result comes out.
“We have to cross-check the results from the AIIB and FSIS and from there, we will determine what exactly was the reason why the plane crashed. Is it human error, mechanical, or the weather itself?” Apolonio said.
Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat, Bulacan police provincial director, said that all the bodies of the fatalities bave been retrieved by the police response team.
Some of them might be subjected to deoxyribonucleic acid tests because of the severity of the burns to ensure that the bodies will be correctly sent to the grieving families.
The six-seat, single-engine aircraft crash landed upon takeoff from Plaridel Airport at 11:21 a.m.
It crashed in a residential area in Purok 3, Barangay Lumangbayan where a family of five was reportedly having lunch.
Caramat confirmed the identities of the victims in the plane as Capt. Ruel Meloria, Romeo Huenda, chief mechanic, Alicia Necesario, Maria Vera Pagaduan, and Nelson Melgar.
Also killed on the spot in the house were Risa dela Rosa, her mother Louisa Santos, 80, and children John John, 17, Timothy, 11, and Trish, 7.
Caramat said Risa’s husband, Noel, personally confirmed the names of his family who were killed in the accident.