The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed Thursday night that the wreckage of the Cessna 206 aircraft, which has been missing since January 24, had been located in Brgy. Ditarum, Divilacan municipality in Isabela province. All six passengers of the aircraft had died.
According to CAAP, the debris of the Cessna plane with tail number RPC1174 was located by a team of government troops along with indigenous Dumagat peoples before midday on March 9.
The aircraft took off from Cauayan Airport and was bound to Maconacon Airport when it crashed. In an afternoon press briefing, Isabela Incident Management Team head Atty. Constante Foronda said the plane was found near a Maconacon cell site, following an account of a local farmer who reportedly saw it before the accident happened.
“The wreckage of the Cessna plane that we have been looking for in the past 44 days—sadly, there were no survivors. We delayed this briefing until all the relatives of the passengers and the pilot have been informed,” he said in a live briefing at around 2 p.m. yesterday through the PIA Region 2.
“As soon as possible, ibababa po natin yong mga labi ng mga pasahero. Kumuha na kami ng clearance mula sa crime lab at scene of crime operatives. Pero yong wreckage, kailangang i-secure pending the investigation to be conducted by the CAAP,” he added.
The bodies of all six passengers will be retrieved, according to CAAP, but it may take some time to transport them to Divilacan or Maconacon, then to Cauayan, Isabela, due to environmental and weather circumstances.
It also stated that the CAAP’s Aviation Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board will continue its probe.
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