The search team found and retrieved the missing Cessna 152 aircraft in Luna, Apayao on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines reported.
“After two days of Search and Rescue efforts, the wreckage of the aircraft has been located at Sitio Matad Barangay Salvacion, Luna,
Apayao,” said CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio.
The authorities also found two bodies believed to be the occupants of the training plane owned and operated by Echo Air International Aviation Academy, Inc.
Apolonio said the crash site is near the last known position presented by Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center during the emergency briefing conducted by Cagayan Valley Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council last Tuesday.
The aircraft, with registration number RP-C8958, left the Laoag International Airport at 12:16 p.m. and was supposed to arrive at Tuguegarao Airport at 3:16 p.m. It was bound for Cauayan Airport for a touch-and-go activity then to its final destination at Tuguegarao Airport.
“The aircraft transmitted its last position report approximately 32 nautical miles northwest of Alcala, Cagayan at around 1 p.m.,” said Apolonio.
The latest case involving a Cessna plane happened more than five months following the same incident in Isabela province, and the other one was found near Albay.
In March, a Cessna 206 plane with six people on board went missing in Isabela province on Jan. 24 and was found with no survivors.
Four people also died after the Cessna 340 plane they were in crashed into Mayon Volcano in February.
Aside from these, CAAP listed three other air accidents this year, including the case of two helicopters last month and in March.
CAAP commended the successful search operations conducted by the composite team from the Armed Forces, national police, local government units, and other civilian volunteers.
Apolonio said the CAAP sent Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board (AAIIB) authorities to Tuguegarao to start their
investigation.
Based on CAAP’s Aviation Records Management Division (ARMD), Echo Air International Aviation Academy, Inc. owns two aircraft.
The missing RP-C8598 has an Airworthiness Certification and is geared with a transponder and an emergency locator transmitter (ELT).
CAAP suspended the operations of the said aviation academy following the incident.