Bad weather hampers retrieval ops at Mayon

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Mayon Volcano’s rugged terrain and bad weather have hampered efforts to retrieve the bodies of the pilots and passengers of a Cessna plane that crashed in Camalig, Albay last Saturday.

The Philippine Army said the multi-agency search and retrieval team reached the crash site near the volcano’s crater yesterday.

The Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) said the team had difficulty setting up anchors strong enough to sustain the transport of the bodies through a 10-kilometer stretch of rugged terrain, from the crash site down to the foot of Mayon.

Cessna pilot Capt. Rufino James Crisostomo Jr. and his assistant, Joel Martin, and their passengers – Australians Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both technical consultants of the Energy Development Corp. – were killed in the crash.

“As of now, we have more than 150 responders on the upper slopes of Mayon. They are having difficulty setting up anchors that can withstand their weight when bringing the bodies downslope,” APSEMO chief Cedric Daep told The STAR yesterday.

“We want to bring the bodies down the fastest time possible. But these conditions are hampering nearly all the retrieval efforts of our teams. They do not want to take chances by putting up weak anchors that may compromise their safety,” Daep added.

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, spokesman for the Army, said the retrieval of the fatalities are being carried out amid poor visibility and the area’s unstable terrain.

“The multiagency search and retrieval team, which includes personnel from the 31st Infantry Battalion and the 9th Infantry Division, reached the Cessna wreckage near Mayon’s crater after a treacherous trek through the volcano’s Camalig flank,” Trinidad said.

He said the situation was also aggravated by the bad weather and loose soil that could erode any time.

Daep said that fresh responders have replaced those who were exhausted and been with the search and rescue operations from the beginning.

Once brought down, the bodies would be subjected to forensic examination, according to Tim Florece, spokesman for the Camalig retrieval command center.

Florece did not mention where the cadavers would be taken.

The crash site and the victims were found at an elevation of 6,000 feet on the slopes of the 8,000-foot volcano in Barangay Anoling.

The Army’s Joint Task Force Bicolandia formed Task Force Sagip for the pilots and passengers of the plane.

The Cessna took off from the Bicol International Airpot for Manila on Saturday morning. It lost contact with the control tower minutes after the takeoff.