CAAP takes possession of Piper Seneca wreckage

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday handed over the wreckage of the Piper Seneca plane, which crashed and killed Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

 

The PCG’s BRP Corregidor left Masbate Wednesday morning with the plane’s fuselage, left and right engine, wings, and the passengers’ personal belongings. The ship arrived at the Manila South Harbor on Thursday afternoon, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas told reporters.

 

The PCG and CAAP are attached agencies to the Department of Transportation and Communication.

 

“Dumating na rito [sa Manila South Harbor] at tinurn over na mula sa Coast Guard [ang plane wreckage]. Ngayon ay nasa CAAP na ang chain of custody ng mga bahagi ng eroplanong sinakyan ni Sec. Jesse,” said Roxas.

 

PCG chaplain Jude Besinga presided over a short religious service and blessed the plane wreckage before the wreckage was turned over to the CAAP.

 

According to CAAP investigation head Capt. Amado Soliman, the wreckage will be transported to the CAAP Training Center in Merville, Parañaque.

 

The plane crash also killed pilots Capt. Jessup Bahinting and Kshitiz Chand. June Abrazado, Robredo’s aide-de-camp, was the lone survivor.

 

Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation to examine wreckage

 

The CAAP has sought the services of the state-run Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation to further examine the wreckage of the Piper Seneca, said CAAP director general William Hotchkiss III in a separate interview.

 

“Hindi na siguro kailangang kumuha ng mga experts abroad [para imbestigahan ang plane wreckage]. We have the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation which has the required expertise to tear down engines like this,” noted Hotchkiss.

 

PADC, also an attached agency to the DOTC, is a maintenance, repair and overhaul center for the Philippine aviation industry.

 

“The investigation is still ongoing. We recovered documents dun sa Aviatour [the plane company which owns the Piper Seneca plane],” the CAAP director general said, adding that they have likewise retrieved pertinent documents from the Masbate Airport and the Mactan International Airport.

 

Investigators have also looked into the statements of the crash’s lone survivor June Abrazado, and other witnesses from Masbate and Cebu.

 

“We will strip everything… if a policy or regulation [in the aviation industry] has to be tweaked [because of the Robredo crash], then we will do it,” Hotchkiss said. — DVM, GMA News