Efforts to search for missing Cessna plane continue

More than two weeks have passed since the incident with no signs of the lost six-seater Cessna plane despite assistance from Hong Kong and Japan's flight control centers and the Philippine Coast Guard, prompting the expansion of the search near the seas of Isabela province.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) requested that the Hong Kong Mission Control Center (HKMCC) and Japan Mission Control Center (JAMCC) be on standby for "distress alerts" from the plane.

However, both agencies have yet to report any detection of the missing Cessna 206 which departed from Cauayan Airport but failed to land at Maconacon Airport last January 24.

According to CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio, HKMCC sent the message, "[N]o detection recorded from the said [Emergency Locator Transmitters]," using their Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system.

Hong Kong authorities also requested that the JAMCC check their systems for confirmation, but no detection was found.

"Japan MCC replied that no detection from the ELT and no past detection [was] found in their record," Apolonio said.

The Philippine Army's 95th Infantry Battalion (IB) also provided help by deploying search and rescue squads to the Sierra Madre mountains, a potential crash site.

The search team’s long-range drone detected a white object in a forest in Divilacan last week  that could be a piece of the missing aircraft.

“Meron akong na-receive na information as of 6:45 a.m., ‘yung tao daw po, 25-kilometer malapit sa Ilagan-Divilacan Road, may nai-spot daw po sila na object that could be a wreckage na po sa mountain side near doon sa Sapinit,” said Isabela PIO administrative officer Joshua Hapinit in an interview with DZBB. 

Hapinit further stated that this information is yet to be verified by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and the CAAP.

Additionally, search and rescue teams from the Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army, Local Government Units, local policemen and firemen, and Philippine Coast Guard joined the search.

Some passengers of the missing  plane were supposed to attend a relative's wake, with one of its relatives reporting that one of her children managed to post an update online while in the plane.