After two days of search and rescue efforts, the wreckage of RP-C8598 has been located by search and rescue teams on the ground, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said on Friday.
CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the crash site is near the last known position presented by CAAP-Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordinating Center (PARCC) during the emergency briefing conducted by Cagayan Valley Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council on Tuesday evening.
The training plane, with a Filipino flight instructor and his Indian student pilot on board departed Laoag International Airport on Tuesday at 12:16 pm, did not arrive at Cauayan Airport for a touch and go activity.
"The aircraft transmitted its last position report approximately 32 nautical miles northwest of Alcala, Cagayan at around 1 p.m.," Apolonio said.
He added, "the successful search and rescue operations (SAR) were conducted by SAR teams composed of AFP, PNP, different local government units, and other civilian volunteers. The SAR teams recovered two bodies believed to be the two occupants of the ill-fated Cessna 152 aircraft."
Apolonio said that based on CAAP's Aviation Records Management Division (AMRD), Echo Air International Aviation Academy owned two aircraft including the ill-fated RP-C8598 which has an Airworthiness Certification and is geared with a transponder and an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT).
The ELT is an essential safety device in aviation. Its main function is to emit a distress signal in the event of a plane crash, which facilitates the location and rescue of the plane's occupants. Cessna planes do not have black boxes due to its weight.
The operations of Echo Air has been suspended, CAAP said.
The latest Cessna crash was the fifth this year.
On January 24, RP-C1174 (Cessna 206) was reported missing after taking off from Cauayan Airport bound for Maconacon with six people on board. The wreckage of the plane was found on March 9, 2023 in Barangay Ditarum, Divilacan, Isabela after 44 days of searching.
The Cessna 340, RP-C2080, carrying four occupants crashed near the crater of Mount Mayon on February 18.
On March 1, the Alouette II Ambulance helicopter (N45VX) operated by Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services (PAMAS) crashed off the coast of Palawan on March 1. The helicopter was known locally as the Yellow Bee. After several days of searching neither the wreck nor any of the five people on the aircraft have been located.
On July 23, another helicopter of PAMAS, the R44 Raven helicopter (RP-C189) crash landed after it made an emergency landing in Sitio Babahagon, Lantapan, Bukidnon.
The four occupants on board were safe, but only one passenger was sent to the hospital for further treatment but was not in critical condition.
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