Pilot error, laxity blamed for ‘585’ crash

Pilot error and the laxity of Laoag International Airlines were found to be the primary causes of the crash of LIA Flight 585’s Fokker-27 into Manila Bay last Nov. 11, a source at the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said yesterday.

The DOTC’s fact-finding committee, which investigated the accident, found "multiple factors" that could have caused the crash.

"It’s an accident waiting to happen. It’s the fault of the company, to reach that kind of laxity," the source said.

The deadly combination of LIA’s "management style" and the "compensation they give their workers" resulted in the company’s laxity in implementing safety measures, a committee member said.

Flight 585’s crash killed 19 of 34 passengers and crew on board.

The five-man fact-finding committee created by DOTC, after a week-long marathon hearing, submitted last Friday its recommendations to Malacañang.

The source said the committee saw pilot error as a factor in the crash because the main fuel valve switch was found in the "off" position after the crash – no fuel reached the engine, causing it to break down.

"Don’t crucify the pilot because of the kind of compensation and technical support they were receiving from the company. But of course, as a pilot, they should have checked if the fuel switch was in the right position. It’s their job," the source said.

The committee also recommended to Malacañang an "overhaul" of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) and Civil Aeronautics Board for failing to monitor LIA’s compliance with aviation standards and policies.

"ATO and CAB appeared remiss in their jobs. They failed to properly monitor how Laoag Air was doing," the source said.

The committee learned that the ATO did not know that LIA was not keeping a "discrepancy" book that should have contained the "mechanical history" of the aircraft.

CAB, on the other hand, was found to have guaranteed LIA’s air worthiness when it renewed its license to operate even if it had not settled the P310,000 penalty imposed by the board for failing to submit a monthly report of its sales.

"The panel wants reforms to be instituted in the ATO and CAB to prevent a repeat of (a similar) accident," the source said.

Earlier, the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recovered from the plane were found "not operational" when they were decoded and read out by the US National Safety Transportation Board (NSTB).

Because of this, the NSTB "retrieved no information" from the two black boxes, though they remained intact even after the crash.