CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 4, 2012) – A small Philippine tourist plane crashed Sunday in the southern island of Camiguin in northern Mindanao, killing its Filipino pilot and a Norwegian woman who was with her family, authorities said.
It said the woman’s husband and their three-year old child who survived the crash on Camiguin Island were rushed to hospital. The plane plowed through coconut trees in the town of Mambajao before hitting the ground nearly crashing on a house nearby.
The plane, a Cessna aircraft with markings RP-C290, flew all the way to Mindanao from Cebu province in central Philippines, bringing the Norwegian family for a tour of Camiguin.
Authorities are now investigating the tragedy to determine the cause of the crash and whether pilot error or mechanical failure is to blame for the deadly accident.
Initial reports identified the dead as Captain Christopher Cebreckos and Racquel Estrande, 37. The woman’s husband, Lane Estrande, 36, and their child, Jane, 3, were both injured as well as the second Filipino pilot Davie Normal.
The aircraft, operated by a local tour company, plowed through coconut trees, decapitating some of them before hitting the ground and nearly crashing on a house nearby. The impact of the crash was strong that it broke the plane into three parts and its left wing was totally wrecked.
The site of the accident was several kilometers away from the runway. (Mindanao Examiner)
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