A two-seater Cessna aircraft crashed on Sunday morning in Lingayen, Pangasinan, killing both the pilot and a student pilot on board.
Authorities have withheld the victims’ identities pending notification of their families. However, sources confirmed that the victims were a 31-year-old flight instructor from Baguio City and a 25-year-old student pilot from Bulacan.
According to Lt. Col. Amor Mio Somine, officer-in-charge of the Lingayen Police Station, authorities received the crash report at 8:40 a.m. An initial investigation revealed that the aircraft had successfully landed at Lingayen Airport before taking off again. However, moments after takeoff, it nosedived into a swampy area in Barangay Libsong East, just a few meters from the airport.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.