Six die as plane plunges into sea

At least six people were killed when a twin-engine commuter plane crashed into Manila Bay in the Philippines shortly after take-off.

Rescuers plucked twenty-five survivors from the murky water.

The 44-seat Fokker 27 sank in about 50-60 feet of water late last night, where divers searched for the six missing people.

One of the survivors, 25-year-old Steve Thompson of Sydney, Australia, said he saw smoke coming from the left side of the plane just before the pilot came on the intercom to tell passengers to brace for impact.

“The plane took off. It flew for three minutes, and then the engine kind of got quiet,” Thompson said at the navy’s bayside headquarters.

“Then I noticed some smoke coming out of the left engine, and then it banked. Then we ended up in the water.”

Asked if the passengers panicked, Thompson said: “The cabin instantly filled with water, so no one made any noises. I’ve seen a lot, man. This is one for the record.”

Saying he didn’t know what happened to his friends, with him on a surfing holiday, he began weeping as he spoke with his mother by telephone.

Alvin Manual Yater, assistant vice president of Laoag International Airlines, said its flight L-7585, carrying 34 passengers, took off at 6.06am Monday local time, from Manila’s domestic airport and lost contact with the control tower three minutes later while on a regularly scheduled flight to Laoag, about an hour’s trip from Manila.

“The cause of the mishap is still not known,” he said.

Joggers running along the bay said the plane sounded like it was having engine trouble as it tried to gain altitude. Amateur video showed the plane slowly descending with smoke coming from the left wing.

“After going airborne, it ditched,” said Adelberto Yap, chief of air transportation for the Philippines.

“We don’t know if it lost power. It looks like the one wing was up in the water.”

He said the plane broke up on impact. Only small debris, including at least one seat, was strewn on the surface. Fishing boats that rushed to the scene plucked a number of survivors from the water.

A navy commander at the site said divers were having trouble with murky conditions. A floating crane initially was brought to the scene in an attempt to raise the wreckage but also ran into difficulties.

“We’re trying to retrieve the plane out of the water using ropes. Twice already the plane slipped,” said Admiral Ruben Lista, commander of the Philippine Coastguard, adding that rescuers were trying to decide the best way to retrieve the plane.

The survivors included the pilot, Capt Bernie Crisostomo, and co-pilot Joseph Gardiner, both Filipinos.

“I’m just very tired,” Gardiner, 30, told The Associated Press. “It’s shocking. I wish that it didn’t happen. I’m just hoping there were many survivors that came out of that. I’m not sure though.”

Navy officials said they had recovered six bodies, including a boy found by a navy diver still strapped in his seat in the wreckage and at least one flight attendant.

The airline’s other four Fokker 27 planes were grounded as a precaution, Yap said.

San Juan Dios Hospital reported that five people, including the pilot, had been brought in and appeared to be in fairly good shape. Ospital Maynila said it had received nine survivors, and three others, including Thompson and the co-pilot, were taken to bayside navy headquarters.

“We were jogging when we noticed that plane with a strange-sounding engine,” jogger Raymund Cayetano told DZRH radio. “It veered toward the sea. Instead of going up, it hurtled downward. The last that we saw of it was the tail.”