The Cessna 206 plane has been found in the north of Barangay Ditarum in Divilacan Municipality, Isabela province, the Isabela Incident Management Team (IIMT) confirmed on Thursday, March 9.
In a press briefing, Isabela Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) Chief Watu Foronda said a group of searchers has located the wreckage of the plane in the said area between 11:00 to 11:30 am.
None of the six passengers onboard the Cessna plane have survived, he said.
Screengrab from IMMT press briefing
According to Divilacan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) Engineer Ezekiel Chavez, the retrieval team is expected to arrive in Barangay Ditarum on Friday, March 10, and the operations to take down the cadavers could take three days.
The weather and the terrain of the location may challenge the rescue team's retrieval operations, Foronda said.
"Walang lugar po na patag doon. Puro pababa at pataas, puro po puno, at walang di-diretso ang lakad ng retrieval operators o personnel. Kaya matatagalan ang kanilang pagbaba, at pag-estimate nga po ni Eng. Chavez ay tatlong araw mula ngayon," he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it had received the information that the missing aircraft has been found.
"CAAP is verifying the information with the Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordinating Center (PARCC)," it said.
On January 24, the Cessna 206 aircraft with tail number RPC1174 with 6 onboard including the pilot and 5 passengers went missing in Isabela province.
The passengers were earlier identified as pilot Captain Eleazar Mark Joven and passengers Tommy Manday, Val Kamatoy, Mark Eiron Siguerra, Xam Siguerra, and Josefa Perla España.
This is a developing story.
