Missing Philippine Cessna 152 found in Luna, Apayao province
PHILIPPINE authorities on Wednesday said the crash site of a missing Cessna plane that went missing on Tuesday had been found in Luna, Apayao north of the country.
Search and retrieval operations had started, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said in a statement.
The Cessna plane 152, registered as RP-C8958, went missing after leaving Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte on Tuesday afternoon.
The aircraft, operated by Echo Air, was carrying a pilot instructor and a student pilot. Its planned route included a touch-and-go activity at the Cauayan Airport before its final destination at Tuguegarao Airport, CAAP said.
The aircraft’s last known position was 32 nautical miles northwest of Alcala, Cagayan province, it added.
The Cessna 152, a popular American two-seater general aviation airplane, is popular in flight training and personal flights.
Another aircraft with registration number RP-C9062 that left Laoag International Airport minutes before the missing aircraft successfully landed at Tuguegarao Airport at 1:09 p.m. on the same day.
This prompted CAAP to issue an uncertainty message at 2:49 p.m. on Aug. 1. The message was upgraded to alert phase an hour later and to distress phase at 4:23 p.m.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Philippine Air Force and Philippine Army later launched ground search operations.
A missionary chopper flight also attempted a search and rescue operation but was forced to abort due to bad weather.
The Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday conducted an aerial search from Tuguegarao Airport, but bad weather also forced its helicopter to abort the mission. — NPA
