CEBU CITY (Updated) -- A six-seater Cessna plane with three persons on board dove in the waters off a beach resort in Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City at 10:46 a.m. Thursday.
Three hours later, a pump boat carrying Koreans on their way to dive capsized near the islet of Nalusuan in the adjacent town of Cordova. No one died in either accident.
The Cessna plane 206 crashed and flipped upon impact after it met a mechanical problem while hovering above Lapu-Lapu City.
The single-engine plane with body number RP C1175 was on a test flight when its engine lost power.
Pilot Captain Joseph Brent Chiong Jr., assistant pilot Saturnino Dela Cruz, and on-the-job trainee Ditto Adrian Rodriguez were not injured. They got wet though.
The plane left Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) at 10:39 a.m.
Seven minutes later, the pilot called the radio tower for an emergency landing.
Witnesses told Sun.Star Cebu that the plane was hovering when it suddenly descended and nosedived into the waters, some 100 meters from the shores of Hadsan Cove Resort, a dive spot.
Brothers Jupiter and Premo Amorin, who were fishing near the area, paddled immediately to the plane when they heard the plane passengers shouting for help.
Premo said they thought it was an air show.
Fearing that the plane would explode, they hesitated in approaching it. Chiong, the pilot, had assured them it would not.
The fishermen had the two pilots and the trainee ride with in their boat. Rodriguez, the trainee, was in shock and couldn’t speak.
Premo said it was a good thing that the tide was low and there were no swimmers, otherwise, someone could have gotten hurt.
A rescuer from General Aviation, who asked not to be named, said the Cessna plane was recently acquired by the Mactan Aviation Technological Center.
He said Chiong and company were on a test flight to acquire a license that would have allowed the plane to be used for commercial air service such as island hopping. The plane has been used for cloud seeding in Mindanao.
“There are various reasons that can cause a plane to crash. It’s hard to identify,” he said when asked why the plane lost power.
Rescuers, with the help of curious residents, dragged the plane to shore with the use of ropes.
After four hours, they retrieved the plane.
Rescuers told reporters they would have to dismantle the plane so it can be carried. The plane’s body can still be used.
Apron Hiyas, 11, who helped in the rescue, will be given a share of the P2,000 cash intended for the rescuers.
Hiyas said he can buy rice with it.
Sun.Star Cebu tried but failed to interview the pilot at the hangar of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
Meanwhile, in Cordova, a pump boat capsized at 1:05 p.m. but none of its passengers was reported injured.
Coast Guard Auxiliary Squadron Commander Simplicio Gilig told Sun.Star Cebu that there were five Koreans, a Filipino dive master and two crew men on board the pump boat.
The pump boat left the Fun and Sun Diving Shop in Buyong, Lapu-Lapu City at 11 a.m.
Gilig said the boat was good for five passengers but was carrying eight passengers and 12 oxygen tanks.
The boat was making a turn toward Nalusuan when big waves hit it and caused it to overturn.
All passengers were picked up by another pump boat. (Sun.Star Cebu)
By Davinci S. Maru
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