By Gabriela Baron
It has been nine days since the Cessna 206 plane was declared missing, but members of the search and rescue team have yet to find the aircraft.
In a statement, Constante Foronda, Isabela Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management officer, said Thursday’s ground search yielded negative results.
Foronda said the Philippine Air Force (PAF) Huey chopper completed two sorties earlier, while the Sokol helicopter completed one.
“[Huey’s] second sortie only lasted 42 [minutes] because it could no longer penetrate the search area due to thick clouds,” Foronda said.
Meanwhile, Foronda said the drone could not get close to Site Alpha due to thick cloud cover.
“Unfortunately, the drone team is required to be somewhere else and has withdrawn from the search area,” she added.
Foronda said search and rescue operations will be suspended at nightfall and will resume Friday morning.
A six-seater Cessna 206 plane was declared missing Jan. 24 in the Province of Isabela after taking off at 2:15 p.m. but failing to land at around 3:30 p.m. at the town of Maconacon. -ag
READ MORE: Cessna 206 plane missing in Isabela
