Cessna plane crash victims' remains expected in Cauayan on Monday —PDRRMO

The remains of the passengers of the Cessna plane that crashed in Isabela in January are expected to arrive in Cauayan on Monday, the Isabela Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said Sunday. 

As of 7:30 a.m. Sunday, the retrieval team has not yet reached the location where the second team is waiting to take over, Isabela PDRRMO head Constante Foronda Jr. said.

“MDRRMO Divilacan is still confident that the remains will reach Divilacan proper today. However, weather forecast is not good for choppers after 12pm,” he said in a statement.

“Cauayan arrival of remains tomorrow is more likely,” he added.

Super Radyo dzBB reported late Sunday afternoon that the remains of the pilot and passengers finally arrived in Divilacan. 

LOOK: Nasa Divilican proper na ang mga labi ng mga pasahero at piloto ng bumagsak na Cessna plane sa Isabela, hinihintay na lamang na bumuti ang lagay ng panahon para maisakay ito sa air asset ng PAF patungong Cauayan City.

????PIA Region 2 pic.twitter.com/zspY2z09u2

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) March 12, 2023

The remains would be flown by an Air Force air asset to Cauayan City once the weather cleared.

The Cessna C206 plane RPC 1174 with six onboard was reported missing on January 24 after taking off from the Cauayan Airport heading for Maconacon town.

The aircraft was found on March 9 in Barangay Ditarum, Divilacan, Isabela. There were no survivors in the plane crash incident.

In a later update on Sunday, the PDRRMO said all the six bodies already arrived at Divilacan as of 12:45 p.m.

“The Air Force is waiting for a break in the weather to deploy a chopper to transport said bodies to Cauayan,” it said.

Once all the bodies are transported to Cauayan, Foronda said that personnel from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will conduct an investigation into the crashed plane.

"Hindi nagdala ng partes ng eroplano ang retrieval team. Ang kabilin-bilinan ng CAAP ay hayaan lang, huwag galawin 'yung mga parte," he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(The retrieval team did not bring with them wreckage from the plane. The CAAP asked them not to move the parts.) —KG, GMA Integrated News