‘585’ co-pilot: Our right engine quit

"The right engine of the plane just quit."

This was what co-pilot Joseph Gardiner told Air Transportation Office (ATO) chief Adelberto Yap yesterday in recounting the last seconds of Laoag International Airlines (LIA) Flight 585 before it crashed early Monday morning.

Gardiner had recalled that while the aircraft was climbing to 350 feet after takeoff, the right engine lost power, causing the aircraft to lose speed before it crashed, Yap said.

Yap said a video footage taken by an amateur cameraman shortly before the plane went down also confirmed their suspicions that one of the two propellers of the plane simply stopped turning.

"It means maybe the engine quit, so (the pilot, Capt. Bernie Crisostomo) initiated maybe a return to the runway, but unfortunately he was flying so low, about 300 feet (100 meters), so he decided to ditch."

"We think we know the reason. We have the (video) tape and the pilots are still alive. The black box is just to confirm the theories," Yap added.

Even as investigators focused on possible engine failure, rescuers retrieved five more bodies, three of them Caucasians, bringing the confirmed death toll to 19, officials said.

The victims were identified as 30-year-old Vietnamese-British Nimh Van Nguyen, Jefferson Mata and Australians Sam Coddington, John Bonson and Nick Wright.

The body of Coddington was the last retrieved by Coast Guard and Navy divers around 5 p.m.

Divers found the bodies of the victims still strapped on their seats inside the part of the plane that remained under water, said Vice Admiral Ruben Lista, Philippine Coast Guard chief.

Sixteen people, including the two pilots of the 44-seater Fokker 27 plane, survived the crash.

There were 34 people, including Australians and British citizens, aboard LIA Flight 585 when it crashed Monday in Manila Bay.

Lista said they were able to haul the main section of the plane yesterday morning, while the tail part, containing the "black box," remains submerged.

He said the tail end of the plane had earlier been hoisted up by a crane but it slipped from the line and sank back into the mud at the bottom of the bay.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Arman Balilo said divers are having difficulty retrieving the black box citing murky conditions at the bottom.

The so-called black box, a bright orange-colored device, not only records the last conversation between the pilot and the control tower but also the overall condition of the plane.

Aviation officials have ruled out sabotage and suspected engine trouble as the cause of the crash.

On the other hand, a representative of the British Rolls-Royce aircraft engine manufacturer, M.J. Gamlin, said they will bring the engine back home to determine the cause of the crash.

"We are still waiting for the black box, so that we will send it to the manufacturer of the aircraft to transcribe it and we will know what really happened," he said.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza said the investigation of the crash is now in full swing.

"We want to find out if there is negligence on the part of Laoag International Airline which ultimately led to the crash and we want to determine what actions can be taken by the department to ensure the safety of planes operating in the country to protect passengers," he said.

Following Monday’s air tragedy, aviation officials immediately announced the suspension of all LIA flights pending investigation of the incident.

Mendoza also called for a review and inspection of other airlines, not only as a means to determine their technical and safety soundness but also to beef up security measures amidst terrorist threats.

Mendoza also ruled out any terrorist-related scenario in the plane crash and attributed the mishap to engine trouble.

Yap recalled in a previous television interview that there was a case where the landing gear of an LIA plane had given way and another case where one of its planes landed short of the runway.

LIA, however, insisted it had no previous safety violations. Capt. Paul Ng, LIA president and chief operations officer, assured the relatives and families of those who perished in the crash that they will be compensated.

Following her regular Cabinet meeting, President Arroyo directly made a personal visit to the families and relatives of the victims.

Accompanied by Australian Ambassador Ruth Pierce, Mrs. Arroyo spoke in Filipino as she condoled with the grieving relatives, saying that the fate that befell their loved ones was "God’s Divine design."

The Australian envoy, for her part, assured the President that their embassy has not issued any travel advisory on account of the incident.

Insurance Commissioner (IC) Eduardo Malinis said it could have been easier for the victims and their relatives if the ATO imposed a compulsory personal accident insurance coverage for all air passengers.

Malinis pointed out after the Cebu Pacific Flight 387 tragedy in February 1998, they recommended the compulsory insurance but ATO turned it down on fears of petitions for fare increases. — With Jose Aravilla, Marichu Villanueva, Ted Torres, AFP