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MANILA, Philippines – Cebu-based Aviatour, which owns the small aircraft that crashed off the coast of Masbate on August 18, is asking regulators to allow its flight school to operate again.
Antonio Jureidini, director of training at Aviatour, said the suspension order imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on the company has affected over a hundred pilot trainees and instructors from all over the world.
“With all our planes stranded, we can’t train our students,” Jureidini said.
Aviatour’s licenses were suspended by CAAP while a probe is conducted into the August 18 crash that resulted in the deaths of the company’s CEO, Capt Jessup Bahinting, his co-pilot, Nepalese Kshitiz Chand, and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Aviatour has several licenses: an Air Operator Certificate, which allows it to operate chartered flights; an Approved Maintenance Organization certificate, which authorizes it to perform inspection, repair and overhaul of specific planes; and an Aviation Training Organization Certificate, which allows it to operate a pilot school.
Jureidini believes that CAAP’s suspension should only be for their chartered flights and maintenance services.
He said Aviatour has a lot of active students who are working hard to finish their courses on time.
“When they come to the Philippines, they expect to return to their countries as pilots,” he said.
Depending on the time of admission, a trainee may be able to finish a special course within only 2 years. However, there are factors to consider such as the ever-changing weather in the country.
“Weather is one factor. We can’t fly when the weather is bad,” Jureidini said.
He said the suspension of the school’s operations is not helping.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that Aviatour’s flight school was suspended.
CAAP also suspended the company’s school license after its chartered 4-seater Cessna plane crashed in Camiguin province on March 4.
The plane carried a Norwegian family. One of the family members and the pilot were killed.
Months after, the school was able to secure a temporary permit to operate even while a probe was ongoing because Indonesian officials asked CAAP to allow their students’ training to continue, according to earlier reports.
Aviatour’s chartered flight services, meanwhile, were reportedly not covered by the suspension and continued, the same reports said.
Robredo plane crash
It was only after the plane crash involving Robredo that CAAP fully halted Aviatour’s operations.
The ill-fated 6-seater Piper Seneca plane was supposed to carry Robredo and his aide, Jun Abrazado, to the late interior secretary’s hometown, Naga City, from Cebu.
It crashed into the waters of Masbate while attempting an emergency landing at the province’s airport due to engine trouble.
Abrazado survived the crash and was rescued by fishermen. Robredo and the two pilots, including Aviatour’s Bahinting, were declared missing until their bodies were found days later.
Robredo’s body will be cremated in Naga Tuesday, August 28, with full state honors.
President Benigno Aquino III and the Cabinet will lead the state funeral rites for Robredo, who will be conferred posthumously the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of Chief Commander.
Bahinting was laid to rest in Ginatilan, Cebu on Monday, August 27. The remains of his co-pilot, Chand, were flown back to Nepal on Sunday, August 26.
Flight locator
Initial inspection by CAAP revealed that the Piper Seneca plane’s emergency location transmitter was in the off position – the reason why it “failed to activate” upon impact.
ELT is a plane device that should automatically activate when a plane makes an emergency landing, or when it figures in an accident, to allow authorities to easily find it.
CAAP director-general William Hotchkiss III said the ELT of the Piper Seneca plane was functioning properly when they conducted an annual routine check on Nov 21, 2011.
CAAP created a 3-man Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board to look into the crash that killed Robredo.
A vital piece of evidence in the investigation, the plane’s right engine, is still missing though. – Rappler.com, with a report from Ryan Christopher J. Sorote
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