Philippine Authorities Probe Deadly Plane Fire at Manila Airport
2020.03.30
Manila and Cotabato, Philippines
Philippine aviation authorities launched a probe Monday into an executive plane that burst into flames while preparing to take off from Manila’s main airport, killing all eight people onboard, including two foreigners and a doctor involved in the country’s COVID-19 fight, officials said.
The twin-engine 1124A Westwind, a business jet operated by charter company Lionair, was bound for Haneda Airport in Japan when it caught fire near the end of a runway at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday night, airport officials said. Lion Air, an Indonesian low-cost airline, later said in a statement that it had no ties to the Manila-based Lionair.
“While [an] investigation on the medical evacuation plane RP-C5880 is ongoing, it has been decided that Lionair’s entire fleet will be grounded,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the country’s air safety regulator said in a statement Monday, referring to the aircraft by its tail number.
Among the casualties were two foreign passengers – an American and a Canadian – as well as the pilot and his crew, officials said.
CAAP said it had recovered the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder.
“The recovery will further aid the investigation and help answer why the crash might have occurred,” the agency said.
Donald Mendoza, director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters that an initial investigation showed that the plane had encountered a technical problem, which led to the fire.
“Definitely we will have a thorough investigation to this and we will advise the actions to be taken,” he said, adding that last year, another airplane operated by the same firm had crashed and killed nine.
There were scenes of chaos at the airport on Sunday evening. The incident was streamed live on social media as the plane lay on its belly, engulfed in fire. Rescuers said it happened too quickly and there was no time to pull out any of the passengers or crew.
“We are so sad to learn that a plane crashed last night, taking the lives of the eight persons on board. We extend our deepest sympathies to the grieving families of those who perished in the crash,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
“There must be a thorough investigation of the incident and the concerned government agencies must undertake measures to secure the safety of private aircraft, as well as their passengers and crew,” he said.
The ill-fated airplane was to ferry a patient to Japan, but it was not clear whether it was on a mercy mission related to the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the Philippines, Japan and other countries across the globe.
The Philippines health department said that the same airplane had been helping in its anti-coronavirus initiative nationwide by helping to ferry medical supplies to far-flung areas in the archipelago.
Late Monday, Lionair, the Philippine charter firm, issued a statement confirming that four passengers and for crew were killed in the fire aboard the plane and that it was heading to Japan on a medical evacuation mission.
One of those who perished was identified as Nicko Bautista, a 33-year-old doctor. Lionair said he was the attending physician on the flight.
“The accident is the subject of an Official Investigation by the authorities and we are cooperating fully with the government agencies tasked to investigate this tragic accident,” Lester Nazarene Ople, a spokesman for the firm, said in the statement.