Ten are killed after a small plane crashes into a Philippines house

  • The  Piper-23 Apache crashed soon after take-off north of the capital Manila
  • Five people were killed on the plane and five more were killed on the ground 
  • The cause of the crash is not known but it is now under investigation 
  • The plane is reported to have hit a tree and a pylon before hitting the house

A small passenger plane carrying five people crashed into a house shortly after takeoff north of the Philippines capital Manila on Saturday, killing all those on board and five people on the ground, officials said.

The Piper-23 Apache plane took off from the airport in Plaridel town in Bulacan province then crash-landed and smashed into the house, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio and police said.

All five Filipinos on board the six-seat plane were killed, and the crash killed five people on the ground, Plaridel police chief Supt. Julio Lizardo told the Associated Press news agency. 

A rescuer looks at the body of a plane crash victim following a crash of a Piper PA-23 Apache six-seater twin-engine light aircraft on Saturday at a residential area in Plaridel township, Bulacan province north of Manila, in the Philippines

Rescuers sifted through the debris following the crash - the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and came down soon soon after take off

Rescuers sifted through the debris following the crash – the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and came down soon soon after take off

The crash set fire to a house that was hit by the aircraft, he said. Two other people on the ground were injured by burning debris, Lizardo said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house, which was the home of an 80-year-old woman.

She was inside at the time, police spokesman Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao said. 

The cause of the crash was not immediately known - witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house

The cause of the crash was not immediately known – witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house

‘The house was burned while the aircraft was totally wrecked,’ he said.  

TV footage showed parts of the plane wreckage and the shattered walls of the house at the still-smouldering crash site.

Apolonio said the aircraft, which was operated by Lite Air Express, was bound for northern Laoag city. 

All the aircraft operated by the transport and courier company were grounded while investigators tried to determine the cause of the crash, he said.

 

 

 



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