Robredo plane’s engine key in probe

LAST PIECE OF EVIDENCE Divers surface with a landing gear of the Piper Seneca plane that crashed into the sea off Masbate on Aug. 18, killing Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and its two pilots. Investigators from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will bring the plane’s right engine to Manila. It is a key part to determine the cause of the Robredo crash. PHOTO FROM PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD

Investigators of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will bring to Manila the right engine of the Piper Seneca plane that crashed off Masbate province two weeks ago, killing its two pilots and  Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Capt. Amado Soliman, chief of the CAAP aircraft accident investigation and inquiry board, said the agency would ask either the Philippine Air Force or the Philippine Coast Guard to transport the engine recovered on Tuesday from Masbate Pass to its hangar in Pasay City.

The lone survivor in the crash, Senior Insp. June Paolo Abrazado, Robredo’s police aide, earlier stated that the plane’s right engine malfunctioned as the aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing at the Masbate City airport while it was en route from Cebu province to Robredo’s home in Naga City.

CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III said the right engine was “a key part” of the investigation. “This will determine if indeed it was a technical or mechanical problem that caused it to fail,” he said.

Foreign experts may be brought in to conduct the inspection, he said.

Investigators earlier said the plane’s emergency locator transmitter had failed to function.

The ill-fated aircraft was manufactured by Piper Aircraft Inc. in Vero Beach, Florida. The small plane is powered by a pair of Lycoming IO-360-C1E6 engines, which are manufactured by Lycoming Engines in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Jerome Aning