Rescuers recovered yesterday the burned bodies of two occupants of a single-engine Cessna plane that vanished Monday afternoon on a flight from Subic International Airport from its homebase in Plaridel, Bulacan.
Members of a joint task force recovered the bodies of the Indian pilot, Capt. Navern Nagaraja and his student Kuldeep Singh, in a mountain in Bataan, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap).
The Caap said a helicopter that was part of the rescue effort located the plane, “somewhere in Bulacan.”
The light plane Cessna C-152, trainer aircraft left Plaridel Airport Monday morning for a series of touch-and-go landing at Subic. In the afternoon, the plane took off to return to Plaridel then vanished without a word from the pilot, the Caap said.
A Philippine Air Fore and Coast Guard task force was organized to search the plane.
The burned bodies of the victims were placed in cadaver bags and flown to the Command Center at Barangay Mabiga, Hermosa, Bataan, by PAF Sokoi helicopter and were later airlifted to Orani for the turnover to authorities.
The Cessna aircraft with registry number RP-C 2724 was operated by Fliteline Aviation School, which was expected to return to Plaridel on the morning of Monday.
It was not immediately explained why the plane seems to have diverted towards Bataan instead of flying a straight line to Plaridel.
When it vanished Monday, the Caap Operations Center (OPCEN) conducted an initial search and contacted Iba, Lingayen, and Sangley towers, but the authorities in those places reported negative sightings of the aircraft.
Search and rescue (SAR) operations were conducted immediately with two civilian aircraft from Fliteline and a Sokol helicopter from the PAF, and PN participating in the search and rescue operation, focusing along the Sta. Rita mountain in Bulacan.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy officials proceeded to Bataan to coordinate with the local authorities to transport the remains back to their families in India.
The Caap aircraft accident investigation board is continuing its inquiry regarding the crash.