FILE PHOTO: Team members searching for the crash site of a Cessna plane that went missing on Jan. 24, 2023, in the Sierra Madre mountains go deep into the forests of Divilacan, Isabela, amid unpredictable weather, to find the aircraft’s wreckage. Their mission ended on Thursday, March 9, 2023, at Barangay Ditarum, where the bodies of the pilot and five passengers were found. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE ARMY 5TH INFANTRY DIVISION)
Updated @ 1:36 a.m., March 14, 2023
CAUAYAN CITY, Isabela, Philippines — Heavy rainfall and hazy skies on Monday forced the Philippine Air Force-Tactical Operations Group (PAF-TOG) to halt its operation to transfer the remains of six people aboard the ill-fated Cessna 206 plane, which crashed in Ditarum forests in Divilacan town, Isabela province on Jan. 24.
Thick fog covered the Sierra Madre mountain ranges, making it impossible for their helicopters to go on a flight, according to Army Maj. Rigor Pamittan, 5th Infantry Division public affairs chief and division spokesperson.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) made a similar report Monday, citing an advisory from the Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center (PARCC).
“The Philippine Air Force (PAF) will try to airlift all victims from Divilican to Cauayan Airport tomorrow if weather permits,” the PARCC said.
Due to this, CAAP ordered Cauayan Airport and Control Tower to start early or extend its shift based on operational requirements.
According to PARCC, the PAF will also airlift members of the CAAP’s Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board to the crash site.
Meanwhile, Pamittan said they were waiting for the weather to improve on Tuesday to airlift the remains of pilot Capt. Eleazar Mark Joven and five passengers – siblings Mark Eiron and Xam Seguerra, Val Kamatoy, Rom Joshtle Manday, and Josefa Perla España.
The retrieval team from the Army would transfer the bodies from Divilacan to the Cauayan City tactical operations center.
According to the Army, the bodies, which had been in a state of decomposition, were placed in cadaver bags and brought down from the crash site to Divilacan proper’s town hall while waiting for the choppers.
The victims’ relatives have been waiting at the TOG2 operations center compound to claim the bodies.