| |
ANOTHER
ONE. A Cessna 172 plane flips over after crash landing
on a pond in Inabanga town last Sunday. Its 3 passengers,
including 2 Japanese, are safe. CONTRIBUTED FOTO
|
|
The
Air Transportation Office (ATO) will investigate into
the cause of another crash of a four-seater Cessna plane
in Inabanga town last Sunday.
Meanwhile,
residents and local officials have repeatedly expressed
alarm over
|
the
many aircraft accidents here especially those that occur during
landing maneuvers at the city airport which is a residential
area.
Most
of the accidents were blamed on engine trouble, however, the
aircrafts were owned by flying schools that were being flown
by student-pilots.
|
|
|
Around
2 p.m. last Sunday, the single-engine Cessna 152 which
originated from Mactan, Cebu, crashed into an abandoned
pond in barangay U-og, Inabanga.
The passengers, two of whom are Japanese nationals,
came out of the aircraft unharmed but hurriedly left
the scene.
The
plane's captain was identified as Takeshi Ishida while
his two passengers were Fujio Taguchi and Ursula Gabucan.
The three left for Cebu immediately after the accident
aboard another private plane.
Ishida
is reportedly owner of Topflight Airways Inc., a flying
school based in Mactan and the president of the Japanese
Association in Cebu.
|
'PLANES
ARE SAFE'
Despite
public complaints on the safety of aircrafts being used by
practicing pilots, Tagbilaran ATO chief Edgar Solis said during
an interview over dyRD's Inyong Alagad yesterday that the
planes are certified safe by the ATO.
He
said aside from being registered with the ATO the planes are
monitored.
Solis
said that based on initial investigations, the Cessna which
crashed in Inabanga last Sunday experienced engine trouble
and was forced to land.
He
explained that a certified flight instructor is monitoring
the student who is flying an aircraft.
According
to Solis, the incidence of plane crash have gone up since
there many flying schools have opened in Cebu.
Flights
from these schools are being distributed to Tagbilaran, Dumaguete,
Dipolog and other regional airports since air traffic in Mactan
is already congested.
|
