CAAP receives permit to enter site of plane crash

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) yesterday said it has received a permit to enter the site in Albay where a crashed Cessna plane was supposedly found.

At a public briefing yesterday, CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the search and rescue team has secured a permit from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to go to the crash site at Barangay Quirangay, which is within Mayon Volcano’s six-kilometer permanent danger zone.

“So far, I think the permit from the Phivolcs was already given, because it is within the permanent danger zone. Since they have received it, they could go up there now,” Apolonio said in Filipino.

On Sunday, unidentified wreckage of a small plane was spotted on steep terrain at high altitude near the crater of Mayon. The aircraft’s tail number or registry could not be seen.

“The problem is, there is heavy rain there and it is dangerous to go up there with flash floods,” Apolonio added.

He said investigators still have to see the suspected crash site of the plane to determine what really happened, and to confirm if it really is the missing plane.

The spokesman added that they will also look into how the airplane got there, especially when Mayon Volcano is a no-fly zone.

The CAAP earlier said that on Saturday morning, a Cessna plane with registry number RP-C2080 left Bicol International Airport in Albay province at 6:43 a.m. bound for Manila with four passengers on board. It lost contact three minutes later.

This is the second Cessna plane to go missing in the country in less than a month.?The first Cessna aircraft went missing after it took off from Cauayan Airport in Isabela province on Jan. 24.

The CAAP, on Feb. 19, said it was unable to conduct an aerial search for the first Cessna plane.

Two Australian nationals were among the passengers of the missing Cessna aircraft in Albay province, Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu said yesterday.

“Sadly, we are aware that two Australians were reported to be on the light aircraft which disappeared in Albay province in the Philippines on Saturday 18 Feb,” the Ambassador said in a Twitter post.

“Our thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones of all those affected,” she said.

The Australian embassy is in contact with local authorities, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the families of the two Australians. – Rudy Santos, Pia Lee-Brago