MANILA – Malacañang on Monday called for a “thorough” investigation of the accident involving a medical evacuation plane that burst into flames during takeoff at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday.
“There must be a thorough investigation of the incident and the concerned government agencies must undertake measures to secure the safety of private aircraft as well as their passengers and crew,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
Eight persons, including two foreign nationals, were perished in the crash, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said.
MIAA General Manager Ed Monreal said the passengers were on a medical evacuation mission on board Agusta WW24 aircraft to Haneda, Japan when the incident took place at around 8 p.m.
The passengers of the aircrafts were six Filipinos – three flight crew, a flight medic, a doctor and a nurse – a Canadian national (the patient) and American national (companion of the patient).
Monreal, however, did not reveal the reason for the medical evacuation mission to Japan. The investigation were underway but initial findings by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said that the aircraft reportedly encountered a technical problem.
The MIAA said the accident happened at the end of the runway 06/24 as the aircraft was taking off. Its fire and rescue team was immediately dispatched to extinguish the flames that engulfed the plane but unable to save the passengers.
CAAP Deputy Director General Don Mendoza said the aircraft, operated by Lionair, is airworthy as it came from Iloilo on Saturday to deliver medical supplies. The licenses of the pilot are current.
However, despite its airworthiness, Mendoza said that they are looking into the possibility of grounding Lionair’s whole fleet, as it also operated another medical evacuation aircraft which crashed in Calamba last September 2019.
“Right now the initial step that we are looking into is grounding the whole fleet. It’s quite alarming, but we are looking into the records of this unfortunate event that happened to Lionair,” Mendoza said./PN
