Trainer aircraft crashes near resort in Ilocos Sur town

A trainer aircraft crashed near a resort in Santiago, Ilocos Sur, on Friday afternoon while it was conducting touch-and-go exercises at the Vigan Airport.

Based on initial reports from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Operations and Rescue Center (CAAP-ORC), the Cessna plane of the Leading Edge International Aviation got snagged on a zipline cable which caused it to crash somewhere near the Vitalis Resort in Santiago, Ilocos Sur.

According to the CAAP-ORC, the incident was discovered when the San Fernando Airport control tower in La Union started asking after the aircraft which they were expecting to arrive at 4:24 p.m. after it left the Vigan Airport at 3:24 pm.

The aircraft’s flight route was supposed to be San Fernando-Vigan-San Fernando.

The officer in charge of the Vigan Airport claimed that he received reports from the local media that the “aircraft got caught on a zipline cable.”

Search and rescue operations are underway for the passengers of the crashed aircraft.