F27 crashes in Philippines

Not the best of weeks for Fokker… :S

from BBC News online

A plane carrying more than 30 people has crashed into the waters of Manila Bay in the Philippines, shortly after taking off from the city’s airport.
The Fokker 27 plane, belonging to a small domestic airline called Laoag Air, had just left Manila for the northern city of Laoag, shortly after 0600 local time on Monday (2200 GMT Sunday).

At least one person has reportedly been killed, but many others are said to have survived after being plucked from the water by passing fishing boats.

Many foreigners, including Australian, South Koreans and Chinese nationals, are reported to have been among the passengers.

The plane has now completely sunk, with only small debris floating on the surface.

Broken in half

Flight 585 was reported missing from radar screens 30 minutes after take-off, according to local media.

Witnesses said the plane sounded like it was having engine trouble as it tried to gain altitude before plunging into the bay.

Adelberto Yap, chief of air transportation for the Philippines, said the aircraft went down in shallow water and broke in half.

“After going airborne, it ditched,” he told the Associated Press. “We don’t know if it lost power.”

Mr Yap said all Fokker planes owned by the airline had been grounded pending further investigations.

Previous crashes

This is the second crash of a Fokker aircraft in less than a week.

Twenty of the 22 passengers and crew died at Luxembourg’s international airport on 6 November when a twin-engine Fokker 50 smashed into a field in thick fog.

The last major plane crash in the Philippines occurred in April 2000, when an Air Philippine Boeing 737 crashed near the southern city of Davao.

All 131 people onboard were killed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2439465.stm