DOTC orders return of small-aircraft spot checks after crash

MANILA, Philippines - Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Manuel Roxas II ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) yesterday to immediately reinstate spot aircraft airworthiness checks previously done by their inspectors, especially on small aircraft, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Roxas gave the directive after a light plane crashed in a Parañaque slum area, killing 14 people, last Saturday.

CAAP deputy director general Daniel Dimagiba, who is on floating status, told The STAR Sunday that the crash could have been prevented if the CAAP and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) had not discontinued the conduct of aircraft spot checks before takeoff. The spot checks were done from the time of Air Traffic Office (ATO) director Jacinto Ortega until the end of his stint as CAAP acting director general, Dimagiba said. The ATO was reorganized into the CAAP.

The spot checks were discontinued during the term of MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi, who tightened the issuance of access passes to the CAAP’s ramp airworthiness inspectors several years ago. Cusi’s policy was continued by current MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado, Dimagiba said.

Dimagiba noted that neither then CAAP chief Ruben Ciron nor current CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez defended the need for the spot checks.

Aid for victims

Roxas also ordered the CAAP and MIAA to provide financial assistance to the crash victims and families displaced by the crash.

The CAAP released P500,000 for the Parañaque City government to assist the families of the victims and for the purchase of construction materials to jumpstart the rebuilding of the 2,000-square-meter section of the slum area that had been gutted by a fire caused by the plane accident. 

Meanwhile, Honrado said the MIAA – which runs the NAIA Terminals 1, 2, 3 and the domestic airport – conducted medical mission and relief operations for the victims’ kin and the community. 

The DOTC recently directed the CAAP, specifically the Aircraft Accident Investigation Inquiry Board under captain Amado Soliman Jr., to investigate why and how the Beechcraft Queen Air (RPC-834) eight-seater light plane plunged into the shantytown and exploded on impact.

Roxas convened the fact-finding panel to determine the liability of the owner of the light plane; effect a seven-day timeline for the probe; and prevent the recurrence of similar accidents in the future.

Gutierrez said the CAAP is questioning the owner of the hangar parking services and maintenance contractor of the ill-fated plane, Aviation Technologies Innovators, Inc.

He said the CAAP is also looking for the private operator who allegedly owns the plane, a certain Captain Fidel Hembrador, who has not surfaced since the accident occurred last Saturday.

The CAAP has retrieved the engines of the plane, and is currently breaking them apart to determine if a mechanical malfunction had occurred.

The CAAP had also commandeered the aircraft record and logbooks, as well as summary records of the training experience of the crew.– With Rudy Santos