(2nd UPDATE) Divers to lift plane wreckage

MASBATE CITY, Philippines – Divers and teams from the Philippine military and Coast Guard aim to lift on Wednesday, August 22, the plane wreckage to retrieve the bodies of two pilots still underwater. They expect retrieval operations to be over in about 30 minutes.

At around 3 pm, divers left the Masbate shore to tie a rope to the fuselage of the plane. A strong water undercurrent earlier delayed the divers and pushed back retrieval operations originally set for 10:30 am.

The wreckage lies 180 feet underwater, 800 meters from the shore. The two pilots — Captain Jessup Bahinting and student pilot Nepalese Kshitiz Chand — are believed to be trapped inside the plane’s cockpit. 

Captain Felipe Macababbad, deputy commander of Coast Guard District Bicol, told Rappler that Korean divers will be the ones to tie the rope to the wreckage. A hydraulic machine will be used to haul the plane.

“We have to be very careful because of the strong current, and the plane was overturned. We don’t want the plane to be pushed deeper into sea,” Macabbabad said in Filipino. 

Maj Gen Eduardo del Rosario, commander of Task Force Kalihim, said during a briefing Wednesday morning, they were confident about the successful retrieval of the two pilots’ bodies from the crashed plane.

After they are extricated from the plane, the aircraft will be moved closer to shore. A probe will begin as soon as the aircraft is near the shore, Del Rosario said.

A rope will be attached to the tail of the aircraft, he explained, and the divers must be able to attach it at the “earliest possible time.” This is to allow them sufficient time to back up without losing oxygen.

Strong undercurrents and oxygen supply are anticipated as possible threats to the successful retrieval of the bodies.

There will be 6 divers all in all – 3 Koreans and 3 from the Philippine Navy.

A decompression chamber for the presidential vessel, Ang Pangulo, is on standby on orders of the President, Del Rosario said.

On Tuesday, August 22, volunteer British diver Matt Reed retrieved the body of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo from the wreckage. 

Del Rosario said Reed is unsure if both pilots are still in the cockpit because it was dark. Reed is sure there is at least one of them still there. 
 
Task Force Kalihim set a target to finish the retrieval operations by noon of Wednesday but Macababbad earlier said the operations may last until the end of the day. 
 
Robredo’s plane crashed off Masbate Saturday afternoon, August 18. – Rappler.com 

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