Authorities start probe on Caticlan crash
A day after a Zest Airways plane missed the runway on landing, the Caticlan Airport in Malay, Aklan resumed normal flight operations, even as civil aviation authorities started their investigation of the crash.
Also, all of the 17 injured passengers, except Rowena Versoza, were discharged from the hospital.
The 40-year-old Versoza from Quezon City, was airlifted yesterday to Metro Manila because she preferred to be hospitalized there, Zipporah Zabala, officer on duty at Caticlan Airport, told The News Today yesterday. Zabala said that Versoza had a fracture on her left arm, clavicle, as well as soft tissue injuries on the elbow.
Zabala said that Hilario A. Cabugon from the safety department of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, along with another investigator from the CAAP, have already started investigating why Zest Airways flight RIT 865 undershot the runway on its second attempt to land at 6:57 am Sunday.
There are no initial findings yet as to the cause of the crash, Zabala said, although CAAP director general Ruben Ciron said that the plane had to attempt another landing due to strong winds.
Zabala also said that the Zest Airways was conducting its own investigation into the incident, which caused the temporary closure of the airport Sunday.
In the meantime, the wreckage of the 56-seater plane remains at the parking bay number 1, Zabala said.
The Chinese-made MA60 turboprop was carrying 21 passengers and five crew from Metro Manila when it missed the runway on landing. Flight RIT 865 was piloted by Capt. Vicente Gazo Jr. and assisted by co-pilot Jeffrey Lim at the time of the incident.
Five foreigners were among those injured, though slight.