Ill-fated plane's insurance expired just before crash?

MANILA, Philippines - The insurance coverage of the Beechcraft Queen Air eight-seater plane that crashed in Parañaque City last Saturday reportedly expired four days before the incident, sources said yesterday.

Insiders at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the families of the 14 people who died in the crash may have to make do with any financial assistance that could be handed out by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Parañaque City government if this is confirmed.

Captain Amado Soliman, CAAP Aircraft Accident Investigation Inquiry Board (AAIIB) head, told The STAR “we’re still verifying” the information. He said insurance coverage for an aircraft, its flight crew and third party liability is a requirement for registration with the CAAP and takeoff at airport runways in the country.

CAAP sources said if the plane had third party insurance, families of the 14 fatalities could get at least P100,000 each as death benefit and about P100,000 for each of those hurt in the incident. However, they said if the plane is confirmed to have no insurance – at least third party liability insurance – the families of the 14 dead will have only part of the P750,000 financial assistance the DOTC released to the CAAP.

In a press statement, the DOTC pronounced yesterday that the CAAP and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), on the instructions of DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II, turned over the P750,000 to Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe.

The CAAP, which regulates all air transportation activity in the country, gave P500,000. The MIAA, which manages the three Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals and the domestic airport – from where the light plane took off before plunging into a shantytown in Parañaque City a few minutes later – donated P250,000.

 The turnover was done at the site itself, a 2,000-square-meter section of the slum area that had been gutted by a fire caused by the plane accident.

The financial assistance, the DOTC said, is for the immediate purchase of initial construction materials for rebuilding houses and a nearby school building, and also to help the victims’ kin.

The DOTC recently directed the CAAP, specifically the AAIIB, to investigate why and how the light plane crashed. – With Rudy Santos