MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 22, 2012) – Philippine officials on Wednesday said divers retrieved a second body from the ill-fated aircraft that crashed at sea off Masbate Island.
Officials earlier retrieved the body of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, 54, who was among three people killed in last week’s crash.
The plane, a twin-engine Piper Seneca, was piloted by Captain Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese Kshitiz Chand, when it went down while heading to Naga City from Cebu province in central Philippines.
The identity of the second body was not immediately known. But other reports said the body belongs to Bahinting.
Officials on Tuesday said the plane was recovered, but could not immediately retrieve it due to its location. The wreckage of the plane was located about 180 feet at the bottom of the sea, just 800 meters from the island.
Robredo’s police aide Chief Inspector June Paolo Abrazado survived the crash and said the pilots radioed the control tower to say that the plane was experiencing engine trouble barely 30 minutes after it took off from Cebu airport. (Mindanao Examiner)
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