8 dead in NAIA airplane crash

An IAI Westwind-type aircraft burned upon take off at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, Philippines Sunday night, March 29, leaving 8 passengers dead.

A source from the Manila International Airport Authority said the airplane is was carrying medical supplies and was bound for Haneda (Tokyo, Japan).

Multiple reports mention that the airplane was carrying 8 passengers: 3 aircraft crew members, one cabin medic, a nurse, a doctor, a patient, and the patient’s companion.

No one survived the crash. Six of the passengers are Filipinos while one is American and another is Canadian.

It burned upon crashing on runway 24, minutes after taking off from runway 6.

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The Civil Aviation and Aeronautics Board mentioned that the aircraft reportedly encountered a technical problem.

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A Japan-bound plane caught fire on takeoff at Manila airport in the Philippines late Sunday, killing all eight people on board, airport authorities said.

The Westwind aircraft was headed for Haneda airport on a medical evacuation mission carrying six Filipino crew members and two passengers, an American and a Canadian, authorities said without naming any of them.

Firefighters rushed to the end of the runway where the aircraft was engulfed in flames, dousing it with chemical foam, an airport authority statement said.

“Unfortunately, there were no survivors on the flight,” Manila airport general manager Ed Monreal told a news conference.

The runway was closed as investigators arrived at the scene to determine the cause of the incident.

Most passenger aircraft at the airport have been grounded for weeks since the government put Manila and the rest of the main Philippine island of Luzon on quarantine to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. (with reports from AFP)