Robredo crash: Pilot error or corruption?

Our heartfelt condolences to the family of radioman Marlon Belitta who passed away after having an aneurism. Marlon had his own radio show over DyAB dubbed “Rated R” while he was a columnist of Banat News. He was only 42-years old. What can we say? Death indeed is like a thief in the night and it doesn’t wait for anyone rich or poor. We have enough Bible sayings for all of us to prepare ourselves for the next life. Marlon’s demise should be taken by our friends as a lesson that we too must prepare ourselves for this eventuality. May we request our pious readers to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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Well, the official report from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) about the Aug.18 crash off Masbate City of an Aviatours Piper Seneca II flown by our good friend, Capt. Jessup Bahinting that took the lives of his co-pilot Kshitiz Chand and his VIP passenger DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo including himself has been made public by no less than Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III. I really don’t know why the President has to personally make this statement. If we had a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), it would have been the NTSB spokesman who would make this official report.

The CAAP investigating team was headed by Capt. Amando Soliman who heads the CAAP Aircraft Accident Investigation Board. But this board clearly points to “pilot error” as the principal cause of the crash. But then people know that it is very easy for an investigating board to point the blame on the pilot, who after all, can no longer defend himself.

But to say that Capt. Jessup Bahinting should have returned to Mactan when the Seneca was having engine trouble is highly questionable. Perhaps it was an error of judgment. The Piper Seneca was already 800 meters from the Masbate runway when something happened that caused the plane to crash.  So even if he returned to Mactan and if he followed the same landing procedures, the plane would have crashed anyway. I noticed that the investigation board did not even check if there was any wind shear that the plane experienced when it was about to land in Masbate.

I have been watching air disaster documentaries in National Geographic and they always say that a crash isn’t caused by one mistake, but a series of errors. So if Capt. Bahinting returned to Mactan… would he or DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo still be alive today? We don’t know for this is pure speculation. If you ask me, Jesse Robredo’s choice of taking the twin engine Seneca II instead of Capt. Bahinting’s favorite plane, a Ceesna 172 Skyhawk with a glass cockpit doomed him. While it is generally true that a twin engine aircraft is better than a single engine one, when it comes to survivability, most people are able to survive a single engine crash than a twin engine one.

To say that Capt. Bahinting didn’t have enough experience in emergency situation is also an insult to him. There is no doubt that pilots need to practice on emergency procedures during their training years in order to make them handle emergency situations without panicking. But in the case of Capt. Bahinting, he has been in more than one emergency situation and walked out of the plane alive.

Sure, when we get older, we do tend to forget certain basic stuff, just like the way when we leave home or the office and forget to bring our cellphones or the usual things we bring with us. But I have been talking to many pilot friends of mine who agree with me that this particular crash could only be caused either by a wind shear or… Capt. Bahinting’s airspeed was at a critically low level because he was now on his final approach to the Masbate runway. Perhaps it was when he dropped his landing gear that caused the drag that allowed the plane to lose its airspeed. But then what we are telling you is still pure speculation.

Now about this alleged “connivance” between CAAP officials and Aviatours to expedite its airworthiness documentation for its flying school. Actually we can get into the bottom of this issue even if Capt. Bahinting is no longer around. But who should be investigated here…CAAP or Aviatours?

Like it or not, CAAP is a government regulatory agency tasked to handle aviation issues and let me tell you that they are far from perfect.

Many agencies belonging to the DOTC family are known for corruption, like the Land Transportation Office (LTO) or the Land Transportation Regulatory & Franchising Board (LTFRB), so why should CAAP be different? A good friend of mine who has many airplanes in Manila showed off his hangar to me and his service center complete with parts and he told me that no matter how strict he is to himself (after all, if he makes a mistake he could die in a plane crash) about aviation procedures, CAAP officials always demand something from him. So what should we do about CAAP?

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