By Hilda Austria
DAGUPAN CITY – A pilot and a student pilot were killed when their two-seater Cessna plane crashed in Lingayen, Pangasinan on Sunday morning.
Lt. Col. Amor Mio Somine, officer-in-charge of the Lingayen Police Station, said they received the crash report at 8:40 a.m.
Initial investigation showed that the plane touched down at Lingayen Airport and was completing its final rotation when it nosedived into a swampy area in Barangay Libsong East.
“After only a few minutes of landing, the plane took off again but crashed just a few meters from the airport,” Somine said, citing information from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Somine said the victims were a 31-year-old male pilot instructor from Baguio City and a 25-year-old male student pilot from Bulacan.
“Responders went to the place of incident and rescued the two victims who were brought to the nearby hospital but were declared dead on arrival,” he said.
Authorities have secured the area while coordinating with the CAAP, which is leading the investigation.
“They will determine the cause of the crash and identify who was piloting the aircraft at the time of the incident,” Somine said.
The aircraft was operated by Pilipinas Space and Aviation Academy, Inc., with main base at Lingayen Airport and main campus in Parañaque City, Metro Manila. (PNA)
