Foreign technical divers were first to find plane wreckage

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign technical volunteers and Navy divers recovered from the deep yesterday the body of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo from inside a light plane that plunged into the sea off Masbate last Saturday.

The recovery came after almost three days of massive search into the depths of Masbate Bay and nearby coastal areas by combined government and private groups for the missing Piper Seneca plane piloted by Jessup Bahinting and co-pilot Kshitiz Chand.

“Retrieval operations are still underway for the two pilots,” said an official from the Masbate Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), who asked not be named because he is not allowed to talk to the media.

The volunteer technical divers composed of British, American and South Koreans also located the bodies of the two pilots inside the fuselage of the light plane lying upside down 180 feet on the ocean floor around 800 meters from the shoreline of Masbate.

As early as 8:15 a.m., dive operations were conducted to retrieve the body of Robredo and at about 8:30 a.m., it was lifted to the surface and immediately moved to one of the Coast Guard vessels deployed for the search and rescue operations.

Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II officially confirmed the recovery of Robredo’s remains in a press briefing held at the disaster command center at a beach resort in the province.

Roxas added that technical diving experts as well as those from the Philippine Navy are carefully retrieving the bodies of the two pilots inside the plane. He said there was the danger that the plane’s fuselage might slide deeper into the water.

“The airplane was (in an) inverted (position) and in that configuration the two pilots are closest to the dashboard of the cockpit,” Roxas said.

Robredo’s body was found in the back seat of the plane, making it easier for the divers to pull it out from the wreck.

With this development, the joint search and rescue of the joint Task Force Kalihim, headed by Maj. Gen. Eduardo del Rosario, has now shifted to retrieval mode for the two pilots.

Del Rosario said that they expect to complete the retrieval job by noon today.

Yesterday’s efforts to retrieve the bodies of the pilots hit a snag after a volunteer German technical diver collapsed after suffering from decompression illness shortly after he surfaced, prompting the suspension of dive operations.

The German volunteer diver identified as Danny Brumbach could have suffered from decompression sickness. He was reportedly rushed to the decompression chamber of the Coast Guard’s BRP EDSA 2.

Brumbach was reportedly brought to the crash site by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan said Brumbach is now in stable condition.

Tan also told rescue officials that the plane wreck has been dragged to a higher elevation of 30 meters, thus making it easier for the divers to recover the bodies of two pilots.

“We are continuing now the retrieval operations, this time using PCG divers as the wreckage has already been raised from 60 meters to around 30 meters after being pulled by rope by the Navy craft,” Tan said.

Del Rosario added all expert Navy divers would only be allowed to go back to the wreck site today.

Del Rosario said technical divers found Robredo’s body floating inside the plane’s fuselage while the two pilots were inside the plane’s cockpit and very difficult to access.

Officials noted that it took foreign technical divers to locate and retrieve Robredo’s body inside the wreck. 

The need to upgrade

Yesterday’s recovery came just as another weather disturbance was being tracked by national disaster officials, which they said could enter the country’s area of responsibility.

A member of Task Force Kalihim who requested anonymity said two female American divers and a British male diver spotted the body at about 7 a.m.

At about 8:15 p.m., the search team was able to confirm that the remains belonged to Robredo.

Navy technical divers relied on the information provided by their foreign volunteer counterparts and retrieved Robredo’s body.

Divers from Germany, Australia and Korea were also involved in the search operations.

Prior to the arrival of foreign divers, local authorities were not able to locate the plane wreckage.

Even the numerous air and naval assets deployed for the search failed to find Robredo and the pilots.

“We have these assets but we need to further enhance our capability,” a security official told The STAR.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the country needs more assets for search and rescue and deep-sea diving.

A military officer involved in the search operations agreed, even as he stressed that the local divers are well-trained and dedicated. He also declined to be identified due to lack of authority to speak on the matter.

“They (local divers) are competent and well-trained for those conditions,” the officer said in a phone interview.

The Navy only has six qualified technical divers. The lack of personnel was compensated by the presence of volunteer foreign divers.

The Navy frogmen dived 60 meters deep or about 200 feet to retrieve Robredo’s body.

“Everybody (involved in the search operations) had to sacrifice. They ate their meals late, sometimes and they faced risks. The operation was also tiring,” the military official said.

As this developed, the military leadership paid their respects to Robredo and ordered the country’s colors in all military camps be flown half staff.

“The AFP joins the whole nation in mourning the untimely passing of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. The men and women of the AFP extend their sincerest condolences to the family, relatives, friends and loved ones left behind by Secretary Robredo who had been a role model of an honest and committed public servant,” AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said. – Alexis Romero