MANILA, PHILIPPINES (AP) – Philippine authorities yesterday prepared to send a search mission near the crater of a restive volcano after they spotted the suspected wreckage of a small plane that went missing with four people on board over the weekend.
Two Filipino pilots and two Australians were aboard the Cessna 340, which lost contact after takeoff from Albay province southeast of the capital on Saturday on its way to Manila, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
The Australians were working as consultants for Energy Development Corp, a large geothermal power company. The company said it has deployed teams backed by helicopters and drones to help in the search.
“We will not stop until they are found,” company official Allan Barcena said.
Mayor Carlos Baldo of Albay’s Camalig town and other officials told reporters on Sunday that an aerial search spotted the suspected wreckage, including the tail, scattered about 350 metres (m) from the crater on the steep southwestern slope of Mayon Volcano. There was no sign of people.
A ground search was hampered by rainy weather over the weekend.
About 60 search and rescue personnel may scale the 2,462m Mayon when the weather clears, Baldo said. They’ll also need assistance from volcano experts and local officials because of the restiveness of Mayon, one of the country’s 24 active volcanoes.
“It’s a very risky operation,” Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Director Teresito Bacolcol told The Associated Press.
