BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA
TUGUEGARAO CITY (December 16)—A light airplane crashed off Itbayat island airport’s runway after it swerved while landing on Wednesday morning, Cagayan Valley police said on Thursday.
The plane’s five passengers, including a two-year-old girl and an infant, were safe, according to LtCol. Saturnino Soriano, Cagayan Valley regional police information chief.
On board were two-year-old Agatha Garcia; baby Alison Garcia; nurse Fhaye Garcia, 32; municipal employee Kathleen Garcia, 26; and seaman Rendel Niño, 26. They came from the Basco Airport.
Fhaye accompanied Kathleen, who gave birth to newborn Alison at the Batanes Provincial Hospital in Basco.
Airport probers said the plane with tail number RPC-1801 owned and operated by Fliteline Airways was descending at 8:01 a.m. when pilot Capt. Adrian Jether Aquino and co-pilot Carlo Cariño lost control of its left side brakes.
The plane later veered right and rolled off runway 36 of the Jose Abad Airport, Cpl. John Dale Nobleza of Basco police reported after inspecting the accident site.
The plane’s nose and front wheel were busted when it stopped at the 700-meter mark of the 1,000-meter runway.