In this handout photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, rescuers stand beside a helicopter as they prepare their search for passengers of a Cessna 340 aircraft with registry number RP-C2080 at Camalig town, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Philippines on Feb 21, 2023. Rescuers on March 9, 2023 found the wreckage of a Cessna plane and the six bodies of those on board that went missing shortly after take-off from an airport in the northern Philippine Isabela province on Jan 24, a local official said. (PHOTO / AP)
MANILA – Rescuers on Thursday found the wreckage of a Cessna plane and the six bodies of those on board that went missing shortly after take-off from an airport in the northern Philippine Isabela province on Jan 24, a local official said.
Constante Foronda, the Isabela Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Office chief, said rescuers found pieces of the plane in a remote, forested mountain slope near a coastal municipality.
"The wreckage was identified by its color and tail number," Foronda told a radio interview.
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He added that workers are retrieving the bodies of the six, including the pilot and five other people on board.
However, he added that it could take up to three days to bring down the bodies due to the terrain and depending on the weather.
He said the plane was ripped apart and its pieces scattered around the mountain slope.
The small aircraft was heading to a coastal town in Isabela province but failed to reach its destination.