Bodies of 4 on board ill-fated Cessna plane in Bicol found

CAMALIG Municipal Mayor Carlor Baldo on Thursday confirmed four bodies were found in the wreckage of the Cessna 340 RP-C2080 which crashed near the crater of Mayor Volcano on February 18.

In a statement, the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), identified the the four individuals on board as Capt. Rufino James Crisostomo Jr., Joel G Martin, Simon Chipperfield, and Karthi Santhanam.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go to their families and friends during this difficult time. It is with the deepest gratitude that we thank the tireless efforts of all the rescuers from branches of government, civilian volunteers, and EDC Emergency Response Teams from across the country. The local government has declared that the rescue efforts have now been reclassified as retrieval efforts,” according to a statement from Richard B. Tantoco, President and Chief Operating Officer of EDC.

Baldo mentioned that due to the dead bodies’ discovery, a retrieval operation was conducted instead of a search and rescue.

He stressed that it would be a challenge to reach the crash site considering the area’s treacherous terrain, which is at 3,500 – 4,000 ft. on Mayon’s west side slope.

The retrieval team will bring down the bodies on the foot of the volcano and will be under the Scene of Crime Operations (SOCO) for further investigations.