Plane crash death toll reaches 14

At least 14 people are known to have died when a twin-engine commuter plane crashed into Manila Bay in the Philippines shortly after take-off.

Sixteen of the 34 people aboard survived after being plucked from the murky water after the crash last night.

The 44-seat Fokker 27 sank in about 50-60ft of water, where divers searched for four people who remained missing, said Alvin Manual Yater, assistant vice president of Laoag International Airlines.

The coastguard commander earlier reported 25 survivors. It was not immediately clear if some, who had been reported to be in a critical condition, died after being pulled from the water.

Steve Thompson, 25, 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. He said he had arrived in the Philippines yesterday and was flying with five Australian friends to the northern city of Laoag for a surfing holiday.

“The plane took off. It flew for three minutes, and then the engine kind of got quiet,” Thompson said in an interview at the navy’s bayside headquarters. He was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, and had bandages on his toes and left arm.

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

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, he began weeping as he spoke with his mother by telephone.

Yater said his airline’s flight L-7585 took off 6.06am local time Monday from Manila’s domestic airport, lost contact with the control tower three minutes later and crashed while on a scheduled flight to Laoag, about an hour’s journey from Manila.

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

Flight attendant Adhika Espinosa was quoted by a radio station as telling President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who visited some of the survivors, that things happened so fast, some passengers were apparently still sleeping when the crash occurred. Navy officials said some of the victims, including a young boy, were found still strapped in their seats.

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 wing.

“After going airborne, it ditched,” said Adelberto Yap, chief of air transportation for the Philippines. “We don’t know if it lost power.”

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.”

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.”