Down Chemtrad plane found by Mountaineers

find no survivors, CAAP won't confirmed until officially verified

April 14, 2009

MANILA - Rescuers today found the wreckage of the private plane that was declared missing 12 days ago shortly after its take-off in northern Philippines but none of the seven people on board survived the crash.

"There were no survivors according to the report," said Cagayan Valley regional police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, adding that the wreckage was found along the slope of a heavily vegetated area in Baggao, Cagayan province.

The islander plane owned by Chemtrad Aviation Corp. took off on the morning of April 2 from Tuguegarao city in Cagayan but failed to reach its destination in Maconacon, Isabela province on time, prompting authorities to declare it missing.

Damian said military aircraft attempted retrieval operations in the past week but bad weather and strong winds and the lack of landing zone prevented the rescuers from reaching the crash site.

It was one of the two plane crashes in this month in northern Luzon region.

A presidential chopper crashed in the mountains of Ifugao province last week, killing eight people on board including senior aids of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Bad weather, again, was blamed for the tragedy while the authorities are still probing other possible causes.

Chemtrad plane still Missing

Efforts to locate missing plane in Isabela fruitless






By Charlie Lagasca

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Efforts to locate a light plane which went missing while on its way to Isabela’s coastal town of Maconacon have been fruitless for the past 10 days.

However, the search teams, which now include civilian volunteers, are expected to continue their search and recovery operation today in the northern Sierra Madre mountain range in Isabela after negative findings on the Baggao coast.

Senior Superintendent Jimmy Rivera, Isabela police director, said aerial and ground search over the weekend in Valley Cove in Baggao, Cagayan yielded nothing.

The chartered twin-engine plane, owned by Chemtrad Aviation Corp., with seven people on board, was believed to have crashed or made a forced landing in Maconacon.

“The possibility that the plane crashed or forcibly landed along the Pacific coast might be remote since such an aircraft has parts that are capable of floating that aerial teams could see,” Rivera said.

Over the weekend, mountaineers also joined in the intensified ground search for the decades-old Islander plane (with tail number RPC 764), which failed to reach Maconacon, its usual 45-minute route, after taking off from the Tuguegarao City airport at around 8:55 a.m. last April 2.

On board the aircraft were Capt. Tomas Yañez, his co-pilot Capt. Ranier Ruiz, and five passengers – Maconacon councilor Abelardo Baggay; retiring SPO2 Rolly Castaños, also of Maconacon; barangay chairman Joel Basilio of Sapinit, Divilacan town; James Bakilan of the Divilacan municipal government; and Celestino Salacup, driver of Maconacon Mayor Francisco Talosig.

Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca said Salacup, who had been taking care of his wife recuperating from surgery at a Tuguegarao hospital, was to attend the elementary graduation of his daughter whom he had failed to see for the past two months.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, Cagayan Valley police director, said poor weather conditions and heavy vegetation prevented them from reaching the plane’s possible crash site through an aerial operation, prompting them to instead undertake a ground search involving local residents and civilian volunteers.

“It’s going to be an open-ended search. We will continue looking for the plane as long as we receive information on its possible whereabouts,” he said.

Downdraft may have caused Chemtrad plane crash

Tuguegarao, Cagayan - Initial investigations from the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority disclosed that the pilot of the ill-fated islander plane may probably have committed the same mistake done by another islander pilot of Chemtrad six years ago when it crashed almost on the same area on almost the same circumstances killing all its passengers and crew on board.

In December 12, 2003, another Islander plane of the same company crashed into a hill covered by dense trees about two miles from the airstrip while negotiating a climb for Palanan, Isabela.

The Chemtrad Britten-Norman Islander plane with tail number 764, took off at the Tuguegarao Airport in Cagayan at 8:52 AM on Thursday for a 30 minute ride to Maconacon, a coastal town in Isabela Province. The province’s coastal towns are mostly isolated from the rest of Cagayan by the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. The aircraft never reached its destination.

General Aviation Pilots has been warned to revise flight plan in inclement weather and as much as possible deviate from the same air route due to reported downdraft and visibility problems over the area particularly occurring during bad weather. The flight plan from Laoag and Tuguegarao airport to Maconacon airport used the Maconacon mountain pass which is declared unsafe during bad weather as pilots negotiate the terrain with blind eyes.

A pilot from the same company who doesnt want to be named said that downdraft from the mountain seems to appear from nowhere when they try to maneuver around the mountain pass for take of and landing procedure and those are more prevalent when a raincloud is developing that also results in visibility problems around the approach area.

Downdraft was reported to be the cause of the Fedex MD-11 crash in Tokyo' Narita airport as it was negotiating to land both killing its 2 American pilot.

Philippine Air Force spokesman Maj. Gerardo Zamudio Jr., admitted that rescue teams were having some problems penetrating the crash site due to bad weather on the area. “Our choppers cannot break though the area due to low and heavy clouds," said Zamudio.

Chemtrad plane down

All aboard feared Dead

Tuguegarao, Cagayan - A CHEMTRAD AVIATION Britten-Norman BN2 plane, known in the aviation industry as the “Islander”, vanished on radar and crashed in bad weather Thursday somewhere between the villages of Flores and Reina Mercedes, in Maconacon town in Isabela.

The nine seater aircraft with registry RP-C764, left Tuguegarao airport at 8:55 in the morning Thursday with five passengers and two pilots onboard and was bound to land in a private airport some 30 minutes later in in the remote municipality of Maconacon, Isabela Province in the island of luzon on the same day.

Fatalities were identified as Captain Tomas Z. Yañez, Capt. Reiner Ruiz, Senior Police Officer 2 Rolly Castaños, Celestino Salacup, Abelardo Baggay, Joel Basilio, and James Bakilan.

Search and Rescue operations have been mounted by civilian and military agencies for a twin-engine Britten-Norman plane since Thursday but the Philippine Airforce choppers and the PNP plane were recalled and was forced to stop the aerial rescue for the missing plane due to bad weather affecting the area.

Engaged in the search are the military forces based in Cagayan Valley, including the Army’s 5th Infantry Division, the Air Force Tactical Operations Center in Cauayan, Isabela, other Air Force units in the region, the Coast Guard and the local police forces.

Director General Ruben Ciron of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said that the Caap Operations Center called up the neighboring airports of Cauayan, Isabela; San Fernando, La Union; Clark Field in Pampanga; Subic in Zambales; and the Laoag Airport in Ilocos Norte, to look for the missing plane but was told that RP-C764 did not land there. Tuguegarao Airport reported that the weather was good when the missing plane took off.

Aviation authorities theorized that since the eastern part of Luzon has been experiencing cloudy weather during the last three days, it was possible that the cloud ceiling suddenly closed in on RP-C764 while en route, forcing it to fly low looking for a break in the clouds and may not have been able to hurdle the mountainous terrain along the area and possibly smashed into one of several peaks.

The islander plane has been located sitting on the east side on a remote Sierra Madre mountain range, near Maconacon, said Chief Supt. Roberto Damian, the regional police chief. Rescue efforts was made more difficult due to absence of access road to the area or foot path leading to the crash site and that rescuers have to endure dense trees and vegetation climbing the mountain to make its way to the wreckage. Access to the forested area is very restrictive further delaying retrieval operations. Rescuers is expected to arrive on the crash site Sunday morning.

Chemtrad Aviation is an air taxi company based in Pasay City and regularly offers inter-island charter services particularly between Tuguegarao, Laoag and Batanes.

In December 12, 2003, another Islander plane of the same company crashed into a hill covered by dense trees about two miles from the airstrip while negotiating a climb for Palanan, Isabela killing 3 persons on board who were PAF reservist. Air Force spokesman, said the remains of Capt. Lamberto Melo, the plane's pilot, Capt. Marvin Regis, co-pilot; and Mario Valdez, crew chief, remained lodged inside the wreckage reportedly perched at the slope of a hill in barangay Dinapnat, Divilacan town, also in Isabela. Causes of the accident was partly due to pilot error miscalculating the terrain when it attempted to fly in bad weather when clouds already covered much of its way.