DOTC Press Release (Aug. 19. 2012)
MCIA reports chronology of events prior to the incident
Secretary Mar Roxas said today the
Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) received from
Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) the chronology of
events that happened hours before the six-seater Piper Seneca plane
carrying Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG) Jesse Robredo crashed in the waters off the shoreline of Masbate
City yesterday afternoon.
Roxas said that according to MCIAA
General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete, Secretary Robredo was at
Consolacion, Cebu, yesterday morning to grace the groundbreaking
ceremony of the new PNP Regional Training Center. He arrived at
Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 11:45 a.m., onboard Cebu Pacific flight 5J553 and immediately proceeded to the Center.
At around 2:30 p.m., he
left Consolacion, Cebu, site and proceeded to Mactan-Cebu International
Airport (MCIA). According to Villarete, he waited for Secretary Robredo
and party at around 3:00 p.m. and accommodated him at the VIP room of MCIA.
Based on the information acquired from
Police Center for Aviation Security 7 (PCAS-7)/DILG and MCIA Public
Affairs Division, Secretary Robredo was booked on Cebu Pacific 5J572,
Cebu-Manila ETD 3:50 p.m.
For reasons known only to Secretary
Robredo, he decided to take a private plane instead of taking the
commercial flight. The secretary opted to fly using one of the planes of
Aviatour Air, an aviation company based in MCIA. Aviatour Air provides
professional pilot training, charter, aircraft sales, and maintenance
services.
Secretary Robredo proceeded directly to MCIA’s General Aviations area without passing through the MCIA main terminal building.
At 3:06 p.m., the
Aviatour aircraft, a twin engine Piper Seneca, with Registry No. RPC
4431, took off at MCIA with four persons on board: Capt. Jessup
Bahinting, the pilot who is also the owner, chairman, and CEO of
Aviatour Air, co-pilot Kshitiz Chand, a Nepalese national, Secretary
Robredo, and his aide Police Chief Inspector June Paolo Abrazado.
At around 3:30 p.m.,
Inspector Abrazado sent a text message to Col. Ritchie Posadas, PCAS-7
chief to tell him that the six-seater plane was experiencing problem
with one of the propellers and returning back to Cebu.
Sometime later, he requested to rebook
Secretary Robredo and himself for the earliest flight possible out of
Mactan. The secretary and Inspector Abrazado were rebooked on Cebu
Pacific 5J570, Cebu-Manila that is supposed to leave at 5:05 p.m.
At around 4:20 p.m., Inspector Abrazado informed PCAS-7 and DILG personnel that they are making an emergency landing at Masbate Airport.
When asked if they were okay, Inspector
Abrazado replied, “Okey naman.” That was the last communication received
by PCAS-7 from him.
The last communication received by the
MCIA control tower from the plane was they were 150 feet, descending, on
the final approach using instrument flight rules (IFR) to Masbate
Airport and they may undershoot the runway.
Roxas said that as of 10 a.m. today
(August 19, 2012), Secretary Robredo is still missing, and search and
rescue operations are still ongoing.
Inspector Abrazado, survived the incident while the pilot and co-pilot of the plane remained missing.
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