Parañaque gov't goes after owner of ill-fated plane

MANILA, Philippines - The Parañaque City government yesterday vowed to hold accountable the owner of the ill-fated plane that crashed in a slum area in the city last Saturday.

Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. said they mailed a letter to former commercial pilot Capt. Fidel Hembrador to meet with the city government’s legal team.

“We will go after the owner for and in behalf those who died (in the accident) and the damages incurred,” Bernabe told The STAR.

He said they are expecting Hembrador’s lawyer Jeffrey Zarate to show up at the city hall this morning.

This developed, as Hembrador, saying he is not hiding, sent Zarate to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) office yesterday.

Zarate, said his client, a former commercial pilot, is ready to cooperate in the investigation.

CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez said a subpoena was served to Zarate for his client, who had been the object of a weeklong search by the fact-finding board that had been convened by Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas to determine the liability of the owner of the light plane.

Meanwhile, CAAP is not discounting the possibility that “human factor,” or pilot error played a key role in the crash.

Capt. Amado Soliman, officer-in-charge of the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board said they will study the video footage of the accident.

He said the transcript of the conversation between the pilot and the air controllers will also be reviewed.– With Rudy Santos