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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Cessna plane crashlands in Bohol
CEBU CITY -- A day after a Huey helicopter of the Philippine Air Force crashed in Balamban, Cebu Saturday, a Cessna plane with three persons on board plunged into a fishpond in Barangay Uog in Inabanga town, Bohol.
Captain Takeshi Eshida, the pilot, Japanese national Fugeo Taguchi and a Cebuana identified as Ursula Cabugan, 18, only suffered minor injuries when the red RPC2706 Topflite Airways plane crashed Sunday at 2:30 in the afternoon.
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Servando Ybañez, worker of the fishpond, and his wife Apolonia, rescued the three passengers using an old boat and transferred them to a waiting vehicle, which brought them to a hospital in Tagbilaran City for treatment.
Ybañez said he noticed that the engine malfunctioned before the plane fell, a point that was corroborated by Cabugan who told him that Eshida was forced to land when he noticed the engine problem.
Cabugan said that Eshida directed the plane to the edge of the fishpond but it went straight into the muddy portion in the middle and fell on its back, Ybañez told Sun.Star SuperBalita.
Mark Villamor, chief supervisor of the Mactan Control Tower of the Air Transportation Office, said Eshida is chairman of Topflite Airways Inc., which owns the plane.
The plane is still in the area as of press time.
Last Jan. 24, another four-seater Cessna plane piloted by Capt. Jessup Bajenting crash landed in the beach resort of businessman Michel Lhuillier in Sogod, Cebu also because of engine trouble.
Bajenting took off at 1:46 p.m. at the Mactan Cebu International Airport bound for Bantayan Island and made a forced landing in Sogod more than an hour later. He was not hurt.
Meanwhile, the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing is retrieving the wreckage of the Huey helicopter that crashed in Balamban, Cebu last Saturday.
It wants to conduct laboratory examination, while the investigation is ongoing.
"Right now, our men are in the area (crash site) to recover the aircraft, especially the major components-engine and transmission-for it to be inspected (to determine) if there's something wrong with that," said Brigadier General Arthur Mancenido, 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing commander.
He said this is standard operating procedure (SOP) whenever there is an accident, like what happened in Humay-Humay, Lapu-Lapu City when a Huey helicopter also crashed, killing several people.
"We cannot yet determine the cause of the accident in Balamban because we have to go through the long process of investigation, including the examination of fuel to check if this is not contaminated, and check if there is oil, and if there is gasoline or not. Everything is being looked into," Mancenido said.
Had it been an accident all aircrafts would have been grounded, but this was lifted the other day, he said.
Grounded aircrafts may be operated in times of emergency, like a mass rebellion, which involves national security.
During initial investigation, the pilot reportedly said that there was no engine problem. It also seemed that he did not miscalculate even though he failed to maneuver during the takeoff, Mancenido said.
"But we have no conclusion yet," he said.
The helicopter was worth P30 million and was donated under the Excess Defense Articles of the US Armed Forces.
It was among the four units delivered by the US to Clark in August 2006 and was turned over to 205th Wing last October.
After that, the 205th Wing ended up with 44 Huey helicopters, including the one that crashed last Saturday and the one undergoing repair at the 14th Maintenance Wing.
Mancenido clarified that the helicopter that crashed came from Iloilo City where the pilot and three other soldiers attended the burial of a colleague.
He said that when the helicopter flew back to Cebu with two other helicopters, they conducted simulation procedures. The two choppers were able to maneuver but theirs could not, and their aircraft slowly crashed into the mountain of Sitio Mayana, Barangay Biasong, Balamban.
Mancenido said that contrary to reports that there was a woman on board, the ill-fated helicopter only had four persons on board: Captain Nilo Arañez, pilot; Captain Jackray Mosomos, co-pilot; and passengers Sergeant Leovigildo de Pedra and Sergeant Jose Ma. Emperado.
"They're all from the military attending a burial of their colleague. It was a navigation flight commanders training when the incident happened," Mancenido said. (Sun.Star SuperBalita Cebu/EOB)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (January 29, 2008 issue)
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