A SEARCH and rescue team did not find the wreckage of the missing trainer Cessna 152 plane at a purported crash site in Apayao.
The Cagayan provincial information office, citing information from an Army commander, said the plane that went missing on Tuesday, with pilot and a student pilot onboard, may have crashed in another area.
Earlier reports said the wreckage and the pilots’ bodies were found on Wednesday afternoon at the boundary of Barangay Salvacion in Luna town and Barangay San Mariano in Pudtol town, both in Apayao. The Apayao provincial government has clarified it was was just a “possible crash site.” It said a search and rescue team had been sent to check the area.
In a statement late Wednesday night, the Cagayan provincial information said a team from the 17th Infantry Battalion and Air Force Tactical Operation Group II conducted the search and rescue operation after learning of the report.
“But they did not find the aircraft and its two passengers,” it said, citing information from Lt. Col. Oliver Logan, commander of the 17th Infantry Battalion based in Cagayan.
It also quoted Logan as saying the plane might have ended up in a forested area near Pudtol town.
Efforts to locate the plane and its passengers are ongoing.
The plane, along with another aircraft, took off from Laoag City airport in Ilocos Norte at 12:16 p.m. last Tuesday. The two planes were headed for Tuguegarao City airport in Cagayan, which they were supposed to reach at 1:11 p.m. Only one of the aircraft arrived at the Tuguegarao airport.
The missing plane was last monitored 32 nautical miles from Alcala town in Cagayan.
On Wednesday morning, Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said the plane may have crashed in the area of Sto Niño, Lasam and Rizal, all towns in Cagayan.
