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Monday, May 09, 2005
4 die, 2 hurt in plane crash in Batangas
MANILA -- Four people were killed while two others were injured when their plane, a six-seater Cessna, crashed in a coconut field shortly after take off from the Barradas airstrip in Batangas Sunday, police said.
The four charred bodies were found near the crash site in Tanauan town, some 70 kilometers south of Manila, deputy town police chief Major Noel Sandoval said. The two injured victims were taken to a hospital.
Police said all the victims were Filipinos.
Philippine Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Restituto Padilla identified those who died as Edgar Calvo, Jose Perez, Jimmy del Rosario and one Captain Estueta, who was the pilot of the plane.
The two persons injured--Francis Calvo and Ryan Barradas--were taken to the Mercado Hospital based in Tanauan and Makati Medical Center. They sustained serious burns and bone injuries.
The six victims were on their way to go skydiving when their plane crashed near the airstrip in Santor village where it had taken off. The airstrip is often used by private planes owned by businessmen or chartered by tourists.
Padilla said they are still determining the cause of the crash.
Initial investigation showed the plane might have developed engine trouble that caused it to crash.
Jess Matalog, a resident who saw the plane crash into a tree, described what happened in a radio interview.
"It got entangled in the coconut tree and immediately caught fire. Then it crashed and exploded," he said. "I saw a person gesturing and I rushed to him and immediately moved him away from the fire."
Sandoval said the bodies were being gathered by a Philippine Air Force rescue team and will be airlifted to Manila.
A Cessna plane also crashed last March 5 off Jomalig in Quezon while transporting fish products from Palawan to Manila.
Two weeks ago, a Huey aircraft crashed into the mountains of Nueva Ecija, killing nine people on board, including former Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Raymundo Punongbayan. (JFF/With AP)
(May 9, 2005 issue)
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