GROUNDED Training planes of Echo Air International Aviation Academy Inc. in Tuguegarao City are grounded as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines suspends the operation of the flight school following the crash of one of its planes this week. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.
TUGUEGARAO CITY — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) has suspended the operation of the flight school that owns the Cessna plane that crashed on Tuesday in Pudtol town, Apayao province, killing its two pilots.
The operation of Echo Air International Aviation Academy Inc., which is based in this city, was suspended indefinitely while an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the plane crash, said Mary Sulyn Sagorsor, Caap North Luzon manager, in an interview on Thursday.
Sagorsor refused to elaborate on the details of the suspension, but Caap would look into possible negligence on the part of the aviation academy, the Inquirer learned.
According to the Cordillera police, the black box of the Echo Air Cessna 152 was already brought to Caap’s Aeronautical Incident Inquiry Board to undergo a forensic examination.
The remains of Capt. Edzel John Lumbao Tabuzo, 24, a flight instructor, and student pilot Anshum Rajkumar Konde, 20, an Indian national, were retrieved from the crash site in the forests of Barangay San Mariano on Thursday morning, police said.
Burial expenses
As of Friday, Echo Air has yet to issue a statement on the incident, but its representatives assured the victims’ families that it would shoulder the funeral and burial expenses, authorities said.
Search and rescue teams deployed by the Apayao police, firemen, the military and community volunteers found the wreckage of the plane within the boundaries of Barangay San Mariano in Pudtol and the village of Salvacion in the town of Luna.
The plane flew from Laoag City at 12:16 p.m. on Tuesday but went off radar while heading to Tuguegarao Airport, where it was expected to land after 45 minutes, Caap said.
The aircraft, which was on a flight training despite the inclement weather, was last detected some 32 nautical miles (59.26 kilometers) from Cagayan’s Alcala municipality.
According to Echo Air, Tabuzo graduated from WCC Aviation Academy in Binalonan, Pangasinan, in 2019 and had his first solo flight on March 11 last year. Konde began his flight school early this year and had his first solo flight on July 7.
Caap said Echo Air’s Cessna 152 is an American-made, two-seat, fixed-tricycle-gear general aviation plane that is used for flight training.