Plane makes emergency landing off Zamboanga City

July 7, 2020

A private plane bound for Dumaguete City an emergency landing off the waters of Barangay Sinunuc, Zamboanga City on Tuesday morning.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), a Piper PA-34 Seneca private plane with call sign RP-C834 was forced to land around 10 am.

The Indian pilot and three passengers which includes a Filipino, Indian, and Nepali nationals, who were all in good physical condition, were transported by the PCG to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines ( CAAP) office in Zamboanga City for further assistance and investigation about the incident.

"Initial investigation revealed that said private plane took off from Zamboanga Airport bound for Dumaguete City at around 9:30 a.m. today," the PCG reported.

"According to its pilot, the emergency landing is caused by the left engine’s failure a few minutes after they took off from theairport," it added.

In coordination with the CAAP in Zamboanga City, the personnel of PCG District in southwestern Mindanao sent aluminum boats and alerted its special operations group and marine environmental protection teams for immediate assistance.

"When the PCG rescue teams arrived at the incident area, said private plane was already on the water approximately six feet depth and six meters away from the shoreline of Barangay Sinunuc," PCG said.

"The actual rescue operations of the passengers were conducted by the local residents who were at the vicinity waters when the incident happened. When the PCG arrived, the victims were at the shoreline," it added.

The Marine Environmental Protection Unit (MEPU) of PCG – Southwestern Mindanao is preparing to deploy an oil spill boom as a precaution as the private plane was on full tank when it took off from Zamboanga Airport. Robina Asido/DMS