(20 Apr 2000) Keyword-crash


Tagalog/Eng/Nat

Rescue teams are still recovering bodies from the site where an Air Philippines flight crashed on Wednesday morning killing all 131 people onboard.

Relatives of the passengers were flown into Davao to face the difficult task of identifying the remains.

Meanwhile, the cause of the crash is not clear, but officials from the airline say the 22-year-old Boeing 737-200 had been given a thorough check before takeoff.

Relatives of passengers of the ill-fated Air Philippines flight are trying to face the tragic reality of Wednesday morning's crash.

The plane was about to land at the Davao airport when it crashed on nearby Samal Island.

All 131 people onboard perished.

The airline company has flown the relatives to Davao to help in the difficult and painful task of identifying the remains.

Grieving relatives identified 17 of the badly battered and charred bodies at a military base where 81 bags of body parts were taken.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"My son was the one on the flight, my eldest son. He was 26 years old. And I really feel terribly bad but I cannot do anything. I think it was God's will that, you know, this thing happened to him."
SUPER CAPTION: Lachmi Daswani, victim's mother

SOUNDBITE: (Tagalog)
"I've put it in the hands of the Lord. Even if I cry, he will not come alive anymore, so I have to accept what happened."
SUPER CAPTION: Juliana Villegas, victim's relative

Australian officials said the victims included Australian citizen Martin Hall, his Filipino wife and two daughters, who were flying to Davao for an Easter family gathering.

Hall's mother-in-law attended an Air Philippines briefing for the victims' relatives on Thursday morning.

Officials addressed relatives, trying to answer their queries as best as they can.

But it's still not clear how the accident happened.

The plane came down on Samal Island, after the crew was told it would have to wait a while before being able to land at Davao.

Villagers on the island said the plane was flying at a low altitude and hit the top of a coconut tree, which knocked off part of its wing.

They said it tried to pull up with a roar of its engines, but fell back to earth and exploded.

Airport officials said skies were foggy at the time of the accident.

The Davao airport does not have full equipment for instrument landings, and visual landings had been temporarily suspended several minutes before the crash.

Most of the plane was destroyed except for its tail section.

The wreckage smouldered for hours, hampering rescue work.

Despite the plane's age, Air Philippines officials say it was well-maintained.

It had received a normal maintenance check before takeoff and no abnormalities were found.

And they say 22 years is not an unusual age for a working plane.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I bring this up because when you say 20 years, it sounds like we are flying inadequate, unsafe airplanes. That's not true. This same type of aircraft, this same models with this same type of engines is being flown all over the world today."
SUPER CAPTION: Jose Antonio Garcia, President, Air Philippines

Air Transportation Chief Jacinto Ortega said that the cause of the crash is still being determined.

He added that they have sought the help of the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States to assist them.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Jacinto Ortega, Chief Air Transportation Office

Later on Thursday the flight data recorder, one of the plane's two "black boxes," was recovered.



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