Plane crashes in Philippines, search underway for four on board

MANILA – A small plane with four people on board has crashed in central Philippines where rescuers are searching for survivors today, an aviation official said.

The Cessna 340 aircraft went missing early yesterday shortly after departing for Manila from Bicol International Airport, south of the capital, the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) said in a statement.

The plane was carrying two passengers, a pilot and a crew member, the aviation regulator added.

A local search-and-rescue team has identified a possible crash site near the airport, CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said

“The problem is the weather is bad and it hampers the visibility of the ground search,” he added.

The aviation accident comes less than a month after another Cessna plane went missing on January 24 in the northern province of Isabela. A search for that plane’s wreckage is still ongoing, Apolonio said.

In a separate incident, two Philippine airforce aviators were also killed in a training exercise last month when their SF260 Marchetti plane plummeted onto a rice paddy in Bataan province, near Manila. – AFP, February 19, 2023