10 dead as plane crashes on house

MANILA - At least 10 people were confirmed dead when a six-seater plane crashed in a residential area in Plaridel, Bulacan on the morning of Saturday, March 17.

A Piper PA-23 Apache aircraft, a light plane with registry number Rp-C299 operated by Lite Express, was bound for Laoag, Ilocos Norte, when it crashed into a house in Lumang Bayan village after it took off from Plaridel Airport at around 11:21 a.m. on Saturday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said.

Plaridel chief police Superintendent Julio Lizardo said all five individuals on board the aircraft, including the pilot and a chief mechanic, were killed. Also killed were five members of a family living in a house, where the plane crashed. Plaridel Police Chief Inspector Agustin Joseph, in a radio interview, said the plane hit a house where a family was having their lunch.

According to a report by the Police Regional Office in Central Luzon, the five people on the plane who died were Captain Ruel Meloria (pilot), Romeo Huenda (chief mechanic), Elisha Necesario (passenger), Maria Vera Pagaduan (passenger), and Nelson Melgar (passenger).

Other fatalities were Louisa dela Rosa, 80; Risa dela Rosa, the mother, and her three children, 17-year-old John dela Rosa, 11-year-old Timothy dela Rosa, and seven-year-old Trisa dela Rosa. with AP