Missing piper plane in Isabela found

BAGUIO CITY— Philippine Air Force aerial search operations has found the missing piper plane in a mountainous location in Isabela province on Tuesday.

Incident Management Team (IMT)  spokesperson Joshua Hapinat said that the piper plane, with tail number RP C-1234, missing since November 30, was already located in the mountainous part of Isabela province.  

The piper plane was reported to have taken-off from Cauayan airport in Isabela province at around 9:39 a.m. on November 30 and was expected to land at the Palanan airport, also in Isabela, at 10:23 a.m. on that day.

The plane, owned by Fliteline Airways and operated by Cyclone Airways, was piloted by Captain Levy Abul II, with passenger Erma Escalante.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the operations center of the Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (PARCC) at the Cauayan Tower received a distress message with a code word “DETRESFA*” at around 11:08 a.m. on November 30.

It was last located based on the Flight Radar 24's latest recorded blip approximately 29.09 nautical miles east of Cauayan Airport.

Authorities are yet to plan their next steps to be able to reach the area and find out the condition of the pilot and his passenger.

 “The IMT is carefully studying its next move,” Hapinat said.