Pilot killed, student hurt as training plane crashes in Pangasinan

AIR TRAGEDY A policeman inspects the wreckage of a training plane which crashed into a fishpond at Barangay Telbang in Alaminos City, Pangasinan, on Wednesday. The flight instructor died while his student survived the accident. —RAY B. ZAMBRANO

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — A flight instructor died, while his student was injured after a two-seater aircraft of a flying school crashed into a fishpond in Alaminos City, Pangasinan province, on Wednesday, reports from the police and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) said.

The local police identified the fatality as Capt. Daryl Uy, who died instantly. His 21-year-old student, Caran France Kaura, was taken to Western Pangasinan District Hospital.

According to the Caap, the Cessna 152 plane (RP-C8202) of Fly Fast Aviation Academy took off at Lingayen airport at 8:22 a.m. for an orientation flight. By 9 a.m., the Caap received a report that the plane crashed into a fishpond near a salt farm in Barangay Telbang, Alaminos City.

Engine trouble

Kaura told investigators that the plane’s engine malfunctioned midair, forcing them to look for a safe area to land.

He said he managed to jump out of the plane before it hit the ground and burst into flames near the fishpond.

The pilot-in-command failed to get out of the plane after his leg got stuck inside the aircraft, investigators said. The crash site is located about 8 kilometers from the national highway and far from a residential area, police said.

The Caap said it dispatched its Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board team to the crash site to determine the cause of the accident.

Wednesday’s accident happened just five days after another Cessna plane crashed in Palawan.

On Dec. 10, a Cessna 206 of Aerohub (RP-C979) crashed in the waters of Barangay Teneguiban in El Nido town. It was carrying 25 boxes of live fish and was on its way to Sangley airport in Cavite province when its engine failed.

Its two passengers — a male pilot and a female mechanic — were rescued by Philippine Coast Guard personnel.

In May, another trainer plane crashed in Caba town, La Union province, killing its pilot.

—REPORTS FROM YOLANDA SOTELO AND DEXTER CABALZA