Philippine Coast Guard rescues four from crashed aircraft in waters off Zamboanga City

The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed some of its vessels in response to an incident wherein a small private aircraft crashed into the waters off Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, July 7.

Small boats laden with search and rescue (SAR) and marine environmental protection teams from Coast Guard Station Zamboanga were on the scene in minutes as the twin-engined aircraft had ended up only partially submerged less than six metres from the shore.

All four occupants were safely evacuated without any serious injuries. The survivors included one Filipino, one Nepalese, and two Indian nationals.

Meanwhile, the coast guard’s marine environmental protection unit has laid out a containment boom around the crash site to prevent any oil spills from spreading out since the aircraft’s fuel tanks were still nearly full when it went into the water at around 10:00 local time.

An initial investigation revealed that the aircraft had just taken off from nearby Zamboanga International Airport when its left engine failed while in flight, forcing the pilot to make a water landing.