The remains of the four fatalities in the Cessna plane that crashed near Mayon Volcano on Feb. 18 have finally been recovered, Camalig Mayor Carlos Baldo said yesterday.
“Following reports from the retrieval team, stating the successful recovery of the 4 bodies onboard Cessna 340A, the Incident Management Team (IMT) now starts to plan the proper handling of bodies, their drop off point, ground security protocols, and turn over to concerned authorities and eventually to the bereaved families,” Baldo said in a Facebook post.
He said he reminded the teams “to treat the bodies with respect through proper management and utmost privacy.”
The remains will initially be brought to the base camp, which is still part of the volcano, and will be transferred to Camalig proper, Baldo said.
The wreckage of the Cessna 340A plane, which went missing three minutes after taking off from the Bicol International Airport, waslocated at an elevation of 3,500 to 4,000 feet on the west side slope of Mayon.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines earlier said it would include in its investigation the possibility that the Cessna may have deviated from its flight path.
CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said the wreckage was found in a no-fly zone given that Mayon Volcano is still on Alert Level 2.
“It crashed on the right side of the volcano. So that is one of thingsthat will be part of the investigation. We will look at all angles that led the pilot to that crash site,” Apolonio added.
This is the second Cessna plane that went missing in less than a month.
Cessna plane 206, which had gone missing after taking off from Cauayan, Isabela on Jan. 24, has yet to be found.