Cessna plane crash site in Isabela reached; bodies to be brought down

The team tasked to retrieve the remains of the passengers of the Cessna plane that crashed in Isabela in January reached the crash site on Saturday morning, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said in a statement.

"The retrieval team arrived at the crash site today around 8 a.m.," the PDRRMO said.

The weather has slowed down retrieval efforts, it added.

"The rain and the slippery slopes slowed them," the agency said.

"The remains of the pilot and the five passengers will be respectfully placed in large plastic bags and then into the cadaver bags. The bodies will be carried down the mountain and to Divilacan proper as soon as possible," the PDRRMO said.

A Cessna plane with six onboard was reported missing on January 24 after taking off from the Cauayan airport in Isabela.

The aircraft was finally found on March 9 "by the composite teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and with some Dumagat who spotted the ill-fated aircraft in Barangay Ditarum, Divilacan, Isabela," the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said Thursday.

All six people onboard were killed in the incident, the Isabela Incident Management Team said Thursday. —KG, GMA Integrated News