2 dead in a Cessna crash near Lingayen Airport

DOWNED PLANE This two-seater Cessna 152 training aircraft lies in a swampy area of Barangay Libsong East, Lingayen, Pangasinan, where it crashed minutes after taking off from Lingayen Airport on Sunday morning, killing the pilot and a flight trainee. —WILLIE LOMIBAO

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN—A pilot and a student pilot died after a two-seater Cessna aircraft they were using for training crashed at a vacant lot in this town just outside Lingayen Airport on Sunday.

The Pangasinan police, in a press statement, said the Cessna 152 plane, with registry No. RP-C8595, crashed in Barangay Libsong East at around 8:20 a.m.

The plane, “operated by Pilipinas Space and Aviation Academy Inc., had crashed in a swampy area on the east side of the runway” of the airport, the Pangasinan police said.

The police identified the fatalities as Capt. Nikko Manogan and student pilot Bryan Allen Ocang, 25.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) said the two men were rushed to the hospital but died a few minutes later, quoting a report from the Philippine National Police Air Unit.

The Pangasinan police, on the other hand, said “both individuals were promptly rushed to [the] Lingayen District Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival by attending physicians.”

According to Caap, police reported that the aircraft was on a maintenance flight at 8 a.m. when it sent a distress call while joining mid-downwind at Lingayen Airport.

Caap said the training aircraft made a crash landing on a marshland at Sitio Alaguas in Barangay Libsong East, Lingayen, near the airport at 8:01 a.m.

PROBE STARTS Police investigators take a close look at the ill-fated Cessna152 aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff from Lingayen Airport in Pangasinan on Sunday. —PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE AIR UNIT

Explosion

Barangay Libsong East Chair Edgardo Diaz said in a phone interview that they heard an explosion before the plane crashed.

Diaz added that they initially did not pay much attention to the sound since they are used to noises associated with flight and planes being located near an airport.

He added that the plane “just suddenly crashed” after they heard the explosion.

The cause of the accident was still unknown. Witnesses said the plane had just taken off from the airport before the crash.

As an investigation was launched into the cause of the incident, Caap grounded the entire fleet of the flying school.

“Authorities have launched a formal investigation to determine the cause of the incident. Meanwhile, the flying school is grounded pending the result of the ongoing investigation,” Caap said.