Senate set to revoke franchise of Laoag Air

The Senate Committee on Public Services is set to revoke the congressional franchise of Laoag Air due to the crash early this year of one of its aircraft in Manila Bay, Senator Joker Arroyo said yesterday.

Arroyo said this was based on the suggestion of the special fact-finding committee of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), headed by DOTC Undersecretary Arturo Velez.

The 25-year franchise was granted to Laoag Air in 2000.

The fact-finding committee established that the crash of Laoag Air’s F-27 aircraft in Manila Bay on November 11, 2002 was caused by pilot error.

Valdez said that the captain and the first officer of the F-27 aircraft admitted that they failed to check the fuel switches for the isolation valves of the collector tanks to the open position prior to starting the engines.

"This limited the supply of fuel only to eleven gallons from the collector tanks to the engines, which led both engines to flame out forcing the pilots to ditch in Manila Bay. The captain also failed to follow the single engine emergency procedures when the RH engine failed wherein he made a left turn at 400 feet altitude that resulted to loss of altitude and airspeed," Valdez said.

Valdez added that the captain also did not follow the proper ditching procedure when both engines flamed out. The aircraft’s wing flaps, he said, were not lowered to full down position to provide added lift and lessen the impact forces of the airframe upon impact with the water surface.

"There were no evidence of an inflight fire nor mechanical failure of the operation of the engine components and systems, except for the cracked open underside of the fuselage, cut cabes in the separated aft section and seawater damages, the aircraft was almost intact to include the cockpit," Valdez explained.

He said that the Laoag International Airline’s flight operations department failed to train and develop the newly-hired pilots before entrusting to them the awesome responsibilities and duties of an airline captain and first officer.

"The ground and flight training did not achieve a satisfactory level of performance by the pilots in accordance with Air Transportation Office and aircraft manufacturer’s standards," Valdez said.

"For safety considerations and so many others, Laoag Air does not deserve to be given a franchise for them to operate," Arroyo said.