Pilot deported from US in anthrax scare?

Was the pilot of the ill-fated Fokker plane of Laoag International Airline (LIA) the same one deported from the United States earlier this year on suspicion of being an anthrax carrier?

The pilot’s wife denied it. But records of the Department of Foreign Affairs showed Capt. Bernie Crisostomo, along with Capt. Wel Sanchez Come, was detained and questioned by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and immigration authorities.

Both flew on Northwest Airlines Flight 28 from Manila and were stopped in Tokyo after the US Embassy received information that the two were allegedly carriers of anthrax spores.

Police Superintendent Moises Tuliao, chief of the 2nd Regional Aviation Security Office at the Manila Domestic Airport, said they are still checking out the background of the two pilots.

Aviation Security Group (ASG) director Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza said they are checking out if Crisostomo was the same pilot deported during the anthrax scare in the US.

"There could be two Captain Crisostomos. One, we verified, was a graduate of the PAF (Philippine Air Force) Flying School, and the other one was an Air Force pilot," Versoza said.

"We are still verifying if he had retired or reverted back to civilian status," he added.

Information reaching ASG showed that a certain Bernie Crisostomo, also a pilot by profession, was denied entry at the Detroit airport several months ago.

But Air Force spokesman Maj. Restituto Padilla Jr., a former colleague of Crisostomo, claimed the pilot might have been mistakenly deported.

"He was the same guy who was mistakenly deported (from the US). He (Crisostomo) is a good pilot and an amiable fellow," he said.

Padilla said Crisostomo is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1983 and entered the PAF Flying School in 1985.

After stints at various Air Force units in the country, Crisostomo was tapped as an instructor pilot at Fernando Air Base in Lipa City where he instructed cadets and officers on flying the T-41 Cessna and SF-260 Marchetti aircraft.

Crisostomo reportedly left the Air Force in the mid-1990s before joining the private sector as commercial pilot, he said.

Padilla described Crisostomo as a disciplined pilot. He said it was very unlikely for Crisostomo to commit error since the latter had experienced flying several types of aircraft, including the heavier C-130 cargo planes.

"He’s very professional. To give you a comparison, when we were teammates in a basketball team, he was assigned to play center. When you play center, you must not only have a fast mind but also capable of multi-tasking," said Maj. Noel Patajo, also a former colleague of Crisostomo.

DFA records showed Crisostomo and Come had undergone recurrency training at the Flight Safety International School in Wichita, Kansas as a prerequisite for being pilots of Aviation Nigeria Ltd.

Following their deportation by US authorities on suspicions they carried anthrax, President Arroyo ordered DFA to assist the two pilots after it was proven there was a mistake.

The FBI in Seattle also established neither of them was infected with anthrax. US authorities later admitted the information relayed to them by a woman they did not identify, was indeed malicious.

The ASG, meanwhile, said they are also looking into the employment history of Crisostomo and his co-pilot Joseph Gardiner who both survived yesterday’s crash.

"We are still looking into reports that led to his (Gardiner) termination at Lepanto Mining," Versoza said. — With reports from Paolo Romero