BASCO, Batanes, Philippines – The light plane took off at around 12:35 p.m. at the Basco airport with 11 passengers and its two veteran pilots.
We were supposed to land at the Tuguegarao City airport at around 1:35 p.m., or exactly one hour later.
At 1:25 p.m., the plane was swaying uncontrollably. I told the three Boy Scouts seated near me to fasten their seat belts, as the “sea was rough.” They smiled and did as instructed.
But the roar of the engines was nowhere to be heard. I knew something was wrong. But after a while the engines started roaring again and then stopped again.
Capt. Benedict de la Cruz was shouting: “May day! May day!”
We were losing altitude. Within four minutes, we were almost touching the cornfields.
Years earlier, I had been in two helicopter crashes. I told myself then, “On the third crash, I will be gone.” This flashed to my mind and I thought: “This is the third time I have been waiting for!”
Scout Giovanni Pajudpud turned to me and murmured: “We are flying very low, sir!” I told him to brace for a rough landing.
Then we hit the water. Capt. Agustin Josel, who was at the controls, shouted to me to open the door. But I could not, as I had to remove the pile of things blocking the doorway.
Capt. De la Cruz rushed to the door to forcibly open it. Water rushed in. He went out and instructed everyone on board to get out.
I guided the others to get out, reaching for two young girls and handing them to De la Cruz. I was the last to get out.
I instructed everyone to stay on the flaps, assuring them that help would soon come, as I feared panic would set in and the situation would be uncontrollable.
De la Cruz returned to the ill-fated Beechcraft and pulled all the things which he handed to me and passenger Rustom Hontomin.
Within 20 minutes, five motorboats arrived at the scene to pluck us one by one, as another light plane owned by Batanes Air hovered above us.
When all passengers and our things were on board the motorboats, it was time for us to leave. With me were Scouts Pajudpud, Benedict John Acebes, 10; Keith Justine Valientes, 11; and John Harold Agito.
The other passengers were David Batan, five-year-old Jenna Horcajo, three-year-old Mykka Horcajo, and Ma. Jane Agcaoile.
We were all brought to Barangay San Vicente, Iguig, Cagayan, where other members of the Batanes Boy Scouts contingent received us.
All 17 members of the Batanes Boy Scouts group are now in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur to attend the fourth Joint Scout Jamboree of the Ilocos and northeastern Luzon regions.
In the meantime, the marketing officer of South Phoenix, who supposedly owns the plane, handed P500 to each of us. I received P2,000 for my boys, but assured the gentleman to brace for some court action.
The incident reminds us in the Scouting world, when in 1959, all 21 members of the Philippine contingent to the 11th World Jamboree died in a plane crash in Greece.