Bad weather hampers Cagayan plane wreck retrieval

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – Poor weather hampered the retrieval operations for the bodies of seven victims on board the ill-fated Chemtrad Aviation Corp.-owned light aircraft, whose wreckage was finally found in Baggao, Cagayan the other day after the plane was reported missing 12 days ago.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian said rescue teams could hardly penetrate the Islander plane’s crash site because there is no landing site for helicopters in the mountains and poor weather had aggravated the operations.

He said two helicopters loaded with rescuers have been deployed but they could only land in an area located a three-hour hike away from the crash site at the remote Sitio Baying in Barangay San Miguel, Baggao, Cagayan.

“My men and the other volunteers have yet to report the actual situation, but surely we will be sending more personnel to the area to assist in bringing down the corpses for identification,” said Damian.

The dead were identified as Captain Tomas Yañez and his co-pilot Chief Inspector Rainier Ruiz, a police officer, and their passengers councilor Abelardo Baggay and Senior Police Officer 2 Rolly Castaños, both of Maconacon, Cagayan; barangay chairman Joel Basilio of Sapinit, Divilacan town; James Bakilan of the Divilacan, and Celestino Salacup, driver of Maconacon Mayor Francisco Talosig.

Cagayan Valley police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian said investigators are now verifying the status of the policemen on board the ill-fated plane.

“I was told that Chief Inspector Ruiz took a leave of absence from his unit, the PNP Special Action Force Air Unit, and flew for proficiency and certification purposes,” Damian said.

Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca said Salacup, who had been attending to his wife’s recuperation from surgery at a Tuguegarao hospital, was about to attend the elementary graduation in Maconacon of his daughter whom he had not seen for the past two months.

Ground search teams composed of police, military, local government personnel and volunteers finally found the crash site around 1 p.m. last Tuesday after almost two weeks of searching.

“We have ordered our men to keep things at the crash site as they are until CAA (Civil Aeronautics Administration) authorities arrive since they are the only ones who can state with authority what was the cause of the crash,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Moro Lazo, Cagayan police director, said authorities are planning to put up a makeshift crime laboratory to identify the remains at the center of Barangay San Miguel, Baggao.

The light aircraft with tail No. RP-C764 had been missing for almost two weeks when its wreckage was discovered the other day in the remote mountain area.

The plane lost contact with aviation authorities minutes after taking off from Tuguegarao airport for a 45-minute flight to Isabela’s coastal town of Maconacon around 9:55 a.m. last April 2 but apparently veered off its flight path due to poor weather.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will conduct an accident investigation on the crash of the BN Islander aircraft in Cagayan Valley before taking measures against the aviation firm. –With Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecile Suerte Felipe