Piper aircraft goes missing in Isabela

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said on Friday that a Piper PA-32-300 type of aircraft, with registry number RP-C1234, was reported missing on 30 November 2023, after departing from Cauayan Airport at around 9:39 a.m. The said aircraft was supposed to arrive at Palanan Airport at 10:23 a.m.

CAAP added that Cyclone Airways operates the missing aircraft, which is owned by Fliteline Airways. The pilot and a single passenger were on board. The aircraft's final contact with Cauayan Tower was on Thursday morning at approximately 9:50 a.m. The last recorded blip from Flight Radar 24 indicates that its final known location was at 10:00 a.m., about 29.09 NM east of Cauayan Airport.

Search and rescue teams have been organized. Cauayan Airport and Tower opened early on Friday at 6:00 a.m. to begin search and rescue operations. It extended its operations until 6:00 p.m. in an effort to locate the missing aircraft.

The missing aircraft has not sent any distress signals via an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) to the Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (PARCC), but a distress message (code word DETRESFA*) was received by the CAAP Operations Centre from the Cauayan Tower at around 11:08 a.m. on Thursday morning.

CAAP investigators from the Aircraft Accident and Inquiry Investigation Board (AAIIB), headed by Romel Ronda and Harry Paradero, are now at Cauayan Airport to conduct an investigation.