CAAP begins probe into Cessna plane crash in Isabela alongside retrieval of passengers

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MANILA — Investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) arrived in Isabela on Friday to begin their probe into what led to the crash of the Cessna 206 plane that went missing on January 24 and was found on Thursday.

The CAAP said the wreckage site in Divilacan town on the slopes of the Sierra Madre mountain range has been secured by a team of locals and the military and awaits the investigating team who will travel from Cauayan City.

One of the plane parts they plan to get hold of is the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) which would help explain why no distress signal was sent from the Cessna plane.

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Another question they hope to answer: did bad weather force the pilot to deviate from his flight path to Maconacon airport?

“Iyan po ang ating mga dapat tignan diyan. Ano po ba ang mga nangyari?” Capt. Edgardo Diaz, CAAP deputy director general, told TeleRadyo Friday.

“Iyan po ba ay brought about by weather na na-lost siya ng control, went into a tinatawag nating unusual state of attitude ng eroplano? Or sira po ba ito ng makina o ng air frame ng eroplano? So mahalagang makuha ang lahat ng mga parts niyan para mapag-aralan.”

RECOVERY WAIT

Relatives of the plane’s passengers have also arrived at Cauayan City anticipating the recovery of their loved one’s bodies.

Some said they are grateful that their wait during the search has finally ended, but others feel regret that they should not have waited that long.

Ronie Manaday, an uncle of a 16-year-old passenger, said his sister went to Isabela from Cavite immediately after receiving the news the plane had been found.

“Nabawasan naman ‘yong sakit at saka upset, na-upset pa rin sa nangyayari kasi napakatagal, napakabagal. Kumbaga ‘yong sisiw naging manok na ngayon baka nabenta na sa palengke. Ganoon katagal pala ang aksyon ng rescuer sa ganyan,” Manaday told ABS-CBN News in a video call interview.

“Tapos na, andiyan na, so better close na lang at papasalamat at nakita na rin sila. ‘yon na lang.”

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Isabela’s incident management team along with the CAAP have said the 44-day search for the wreckage was hampered by conditions in the area, including the cloudy and unpredictable weather in the slopes that at times have caused operations to be called off.

The 39 members of the retrieval team who left Divilacan on Thursday were expected to reach the crash site on Friday afternoon.

The Isabela Incident Management Team has yet to provide an update on the retrieval team, as well as release the first photos of the crash site.

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Once there, the retrieval team will begin bringing down the bodies—a process the incident management team estimated would take until the weekend.

“Dadalhin nila sa Divilacan proper. Kapag nandoon na, expected na paparating, liliparin ngayon ng Philippine Air Force at susunduin, dadalhin ng Cauayan, dadalhin ng punerarya, at kung saan gusto ng mga pamilya, kung saan nila gustong dalhin ang mga labi ng kanilang mga kaanak, doon dadalhin,” Atty. Constante Foronda Jr., head of the IMT, said in a phone interview.

The CAAP meanwhile added they will wait for the bodies of the pilot and passengers to be recovered before they begin retrieving the wreckage of the ill-fated Cessna plane.

RELATIVES’ APPEAL

Redentor Gabutan, the brother of one of the passengers, called on the provincial government of Isabela to speed up its construction of roadways to the coastal town of Maconacon as a safer alternative to flying from the provincial center.

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“Kasi yan na lang po yung hindi na-develop na coastal part ng Isabela. Na sana ituloy na nilang gawin yang kalsada na ‘yan para wala nang magbuwis-buhay,” Gabutan told TeleRadyo on Friday.

“Kasi ‘di naman kayang gawin yan ng individual person o mga private firm ang gagawa dyan. Yung gobernador po ng Isabela dahil sila po yung nakakaalam kung anong gagawin.”

Isabela governor Rodolfo Albano III told ABS-CBN News on Friday that attempts to construct roads in the mountainous region in the past have been problematic due to landslides.

Albano said that while he understands where the families of the plane crash victims are coming from, further studies have to be made before a safer land transport option can be implemented.

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