Philippines keeps searching missing aircraft with 2 aboard

MANILA: The Philippines has started searching for a missing aircraft with two people on board, including the pilot, in the northern Isabela province, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Friday.

The single-engine light aircraft with fixed landing gear took off at 9:39 a.m. local time on Thursday at the Cauayan City airport, heading for Palanan, a coastal town east of the city.

The plane was scheduled to land in Palanan at 10:23 a.m. local time but lost contact on its way.

CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said that a search and rescue team has started scouring the areas around the plane’s route while going to the plane’s last recorded position.

Authorities first reported that the missing plane was a Cessna.

-Xinhua