Australian engineers Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam killed in Philippines plane crash
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Australian mining engineers confirmed dead after their plane crashed near a remote volcano in the Philippines
- Two Australian miners die in a plane crash
- The plane was found near a volcano in the Philippines.
Two Australian engineers have been confirmed dead after a small plane crashed near a volcano in the Philippines.
Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from South Australia, were aboard a Cessna RPC340 that crashed after leaving Bicol International Airport in Albay at 6:43am on Saturday.
The pilot Rufino James Crisostomo Jr and the mechanic Joel Martín also died.
“Unfortunately, there are no survivors,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference in Fiji this morning.
“On behalf of the Australian government, I would like to extend my condolences to the families of the two men, Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from Adelaide, my hometown, as well as the Filipino nationals involved.”
Two Filipino soldiers also died in an accident while collecting supplies for the rescue mission.
The six-seater Cessna 340 plane is understood to have been en route to the capital Manila. after the engineers’ visit to the Bac-Man geothermal power plant.
Two Australian men fear after a plane crashed near a volcano crater in the Philippines (pictured, small plane wreckage near Mayon volcano crater)
Engineers Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, who are from South Australia, were aboard a Cessna 340 plane that left Bicol International Airport for Manila on Saturday.
However, communication with the aircraft’s pilot was lost three minutes after the plane’s departure.
The aircraft was last seen five minutes after leaving the airport before it was reported missing.
youThe Fire Protection Office in Albay He said the remains were photographed in the forested boundary between the cities of Guinobatan and Camalig.
The plane had taken off during moderate rain.
The head of the Camalig fire station, Chief Inspector Hamor Laguilles, relayed the account of a village chief who saw the plane and said it was “flying too low, (emitting) smoke and making a loud crashing sound before landing.” disappear”.
More than 200 people along with 34 vehicles, 11 drones and four K9 dogs were deployed in the joint search and rescue operation to reach the aircraft on the remote volcano, according to the Philippine state news agency.
The remains were located near a “permanent danger site” and a certain “no-fly zone” around the volcano.
Communication with the pilot was lost three minutes after the plane took off. The plane was last seen five minutes after leaving the airport before it was reported missing.
More than 200 people along with 34 vehicles, 11 drones and four K9 dogs were deployed in the joint search and rescue operation to reach the aircraft on the remote volcano, according to the Philippine state news agency.