SEARCH and rescue workers are close to the wreckage of the Cessna plane crashed near the crater of Mayon Volcano in Albay last Saturday.
Cedric Daep, chief of Albay’s Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said the rescue personnel have not reached the crash site because of “terrain and weather problem” but were just about 600 to 800 meters away as of yesterday afternoon.
The plane was carrying four people — pilot Rufino James, crewman Joel Martin, and Australian passengers Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santanan.
Daep said the rescuers have to climb a high hill to reach the wreckage which was earlier found by a Philippine Air Force helicopter during an aerial search.
“They are in a channel where pyroclastic materials flow during Mayon eruptions. “There is also a high hill that’s difficult to climb,” he said.
Asked if the rescuers would have reached the area later yesterday or by today, Daep said, “It’s hard; weather is also turning bad. They (rescuers) have to rest, set up their camp.”
Daep said authorities will send another rescue team today and it will take a different trail and serve as back-up.
Visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles virtually presumed the Australian passengers, pilot and crewman are already dead.
Marles expressed his condolences to the families of the Australians and Filipinos who died in what he described as “very tragic plane accident.”
“This has been a very difficult event,” said Marles.
He also expressed condolences to the families of two soldiers who were involved in the search and rescue operation and were killed Monday in an ambush staged by communist rebels.
“We are really grateful for the efforts that Filipino servicemen have undertaken in responding to this, and we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two dear lives in those efforts,” said Marles.
Daep, on whether those aboard are considered dead, said, “We have yet to declare a retrieval operation. Our statement is we are still on search and rescue operation. It’s difficult to pronounce (them as dead) because we have yet to reach the area.”
The Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said it airdropped a search and rescue team yesterday.
The two Australian passengers of RP-C2080 were EDC’s technical consultants.
“As of this morning, they were about a kilometer away (from the crash site) but you know the terrain is tough. If you’ve seen the pictures, it is very steep. It’s all rocky, loose. Very hard even if you’re only a kilometer away,” said Federico Lopez, EDC chief executive officer, on the sidelines of the 4th Philippine Environment Summit in Tagaytay City.
Lopez also said there is a “safety issue” on the part of the rescuers especially that Mayon Volcano is under alert level 2, adding that the route is also subject to flash floods during heavy rains.
The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Vulcanology earlier warned the rescuers on the dangers from Mayon Volcano, like sudden steam-driven eruptions, rockfalls, landslides, and lahar during heavy and prolonged rainfall. — With Jed Macapagal
