The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has formed a team to determine the cause of a plane crash that killed nine people in Calamba City in Laguna last Sunday.
CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the team, the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board, will investigate the incident.
“As a matter of protocol, the CAAP cannot yet release partial information from the investigation. The Authority will be releasing its final report once the AAIIB concludes its probe of the crash, Apolonio said.
CAAP investigators are now collecting all the documents on the plane, its crew and its recent flights for analysis.
The agency is also coordinating with local authorities and the first responders in Calamba to determine what hazards might have been present at the crash site and to ensure safe access to the wreckage.
Some local residents claimed there was lightning and heavy rain in the area before the crash.
Killed in the incident were plane pilot Jesus Fernandez and co-pilot Lino A. Cruz, Jr.; Garret Garcia, a doctor; Kirk Eion Badilla and Yamato Togawa, both registered nurses; Tom Carr, a patient from New Zealand and his wife Emma; flight mechanic Raymund Bulacja and one Ryx Gil Laput.
In a statement, CAAP officials said only eight of the nine passengers were listed in the flight manifesto of the 11-seater Beechcraft King Air type (BE350) medical evacuation aircraft.
The statement said “Erma Carr, a Filipina with a New Zealand citizenship, is the wife of the New Zealander patient.”
The CAAP’s initial report said the aircraft operated by Lion Air crashed around 3 p.m. on Sunday in a private resort in Pansol village.
A mother and her son, the caretakers of the resort where the plane crashed, were hurt and were taken to a hospital in Calamba following the incident.
Authorities said the plane crash triggered a blaze in the area.
The plane, which came from Dipolog Airport in Zamboanga del Norte, “lost radar contact around 3:10 p.m. while flying 25 nautical miles from Manila,” the CAAP said.