Crashed plane's black box found

Aviation authorities have started an inquiry into the crash of a six-seater Antonov 12 cargo plane while it attempted landing about 35 kilometers south of Clark airport, Pampanga, on Wednesday night after recovering the ill-fated plane’s black box.

The aircraft was chartered by the Pacific East Air Cargo for the United Postal Service and was flying from Mactan to Clark Airport in Pampanga.

It was said to have been carrying cargo from Cebu to Clark, and was only 10 minutes away from landing when it crashed.

In a phone interview with The FREEMAN, Mactan International Airport manager Danilo Francia said that they cannot yet issue a statement because the crash is still under investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general Alfonso Cusi, in an interview with dwLZ radio said that the black box, containing vital information as to what really took place before the crash has been found.

The Russian-made cargo plane crashed and burst into flames in a ricefield as it attempted a landing. Three foreign national crews were killed while three others were pulled out alive from the burning wreckage.

He said that investigators are already in the site and they expect to know more once they get the needed information.

Radio dzBB’s Allan Gatus reported that three of the survivors were still too shocked to give leads on the incident as of early Thursday morning.

A bulletin from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the cargo plane had six passengers including three Russians, two Uzbekistan nationals and a Bulgarian.

Killed were Russian engineers Nikolay Bannon and Dadim Yahimov and Bulgarian national Tzvidoslav Guetchevski.

The injured survivors were Russian Tochonyy Yuriy, pilot; and Uzbeks Dmitry Strumminski, co-pilot and Ruziev Borhadir, crew.

Initial investigation indicated an electrical fire broke out in the plane’s cargo cabin at about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, prompting the crew to attempt an emergency landing.

Mayor Teddy Tumang said no residents were hurt or killed because the crash happened away from houses.

The plane crashed in Barangay Laput, not in Barangay San Patricio, as earlier reported by the town’s mayor.

Meanwhile, the Clark International Airport Corp.’s control tower said they received an emergency call from the pilot around 8:48 p.m., informing them that a part of the plane was on fire.

The Pacific East Air Cargo chartered the plane for the operations of the international cargo forwarding firm UPS, a report from the state-owned Clark International Airport Corp. said.

Cusi added Clark’s tower lost communication with the aircraft at about 8:50 p.m.