Islander similar to accident aircraft. Photo by Nimbus.

A twin-engine aircraft went missing Thursday (4/2/09) in the Philippines and rescuers fear the worst as the search has gone on for more than 24 hours.  The plane, a twin-engine Britten-Norman Islander (RP-C764), departed Tuguegarao City Airport in the northern Philippines (Cagayan Province) at around 8:55 AM , but failed to reach its destination in the town of Maconacon only 35 minutes away.  The plane is an air taxi operated by Chemtrad Aviation.

Members of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the local military are searching for the plane.  CAAP officials contacted all nearby airports for signs of the lost aircraft, but it does not appear the airplane landed in any of the airports.  The search was halted on Thursday due to deteriorating conditions in the area and is expected to resume today.

The airplane carried five passengers and two crewmen.  The pilot of the plane is Capt. Tomas Z. Yañez and his co-pilot is Capt. Reiner Ruiz.  The passengers’ names are James Bakilan, Celestino Salacup, Rolly Castaños, Abelardo Baggay, and Joel Basilo.  Weather at the time was reported to be “fairly good” by CAAP officials, but could have gotten bad really fast at the time of the accident.

Velozia Air will keep you updated of further developments on this accident.  You can keep track of this and all our posts by subscribing to Velozia Air.  Simply fill out your e-mail on the “Get Velozia Air Delivered to Your Inbox” section on the right side of this page.  We don’t share your e-mail address with anyone and you can opt out whenever you wish.

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