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Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Plane for telecom ad crashlands in Agdao
By Seth delos Reyes & Rex C. Otero
DAVAO CITY -- A two-seater Cessna plane contracted to fly over the city to unfurl a banner of a telecom company during the City's 67th Araw ng Dabaw celebration landed bottom up at the shoreline of Ipil Beach in Agdao, Tuesday morning.
Its pilot, Capt. Aldrin Montemayor, luckily survived.
The plane, a Cessna RP-C392 owned by TMT Chadwel Corporation, was leased by Sky Ads for Globe Philippines Advertising Flight.
Sky ads owner Mike Johnson said they had the plane for around nine months now and have been using this to tow advertising banners.
Montemayor was supposed to tow a Globe Handyphone banner at the height of the Araw ng Dabaw parade.
According to Air Transportation Office (ATO) manager Frederick San Felix, the airplane took off from the Davao International Airport at 8:44 a.m. Tuesday.
Just 14 minutes into its flight at 8:58 a.m., its pilot radioed a distress call to the ATO tower saying he was encountering "engine machine trouble".
Dionisio Troso, a resident of Ipil Beach, said they were gathered for breakfast when jolted by a giant splash just 50 meters offshore.
"Among nakita nga naugbok ang eroplano unya nalintuwad pa gyud pagkahuman. Mabaw ra ang tubig kay mao palang pagbalik pataub gikan sa sa hunas (We saw the plane plunge and its' belly turn up. But the beach was shallow then because the tide was just coming in)," Troso said.
They then saw the pilot, who told them not to touch anything, emerge as rescuers appeared and took him to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) office.
The ATO is conducting further investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, the celebration of the 67th Araw ng Dabaw Tuesday was observed to be successful with the presence of thousands of people who went out on the streets to witness the traditional parade despite some delays.
About 158 contingents joined the parade, which started from Magsaysay Park passing through the streets of Uyanguren, Claveria, Bonifacio, Legaspi and up to San Pedro.
Earlier, parade committee chair James Zimmerman said none of the registered contingents are political groups.
However, some parade observers said Tuesday's activity appeared to be a "parade of political candidates."
Most of the candidates from K4 Party were present during the parade, which did not start at the scheduled time as the committee waited for President Arroyo until 9 a.m.
Meanwhile, a number of vendors mushroomed at the Rizal Park and Osmeņa Park trying to benefit from the occasion.
With regards to the security of the celebration, Philippine Regional Office (PRO) 11 director Isidro Lapeņa, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Conrado Laza, Task Force Davao (TFD) chief Gaudencio Pangilinan and several uniformed and non-uniformed authorities were roving around. (With AAG)
(March 17, 2004 issue)
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