Plane catches fire on take-off from NAIA killing all aboard

Plane catches fire on take-off from NAIA killing all aboard

A light aircraft used as an air ambulance burst into flames as it took off from Ninoy Aquino International Airport for Japan on Sunday night, killing all onboard.

Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal said the Agusta WW24 aircraft was carrying eight people, including an American national, a Canadian national, a flight medic, a nurse, a doctor and three flight crew. He declined to identify the victims until their families were informed and said other details about the flight and the passengers were unclear.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the Philippine agency at the forefront of combating the coronavirus outbreak, uses the same aircraft from a charter flight company called Lionair to transport supplies to the medical workers on the front line in the provinces across the archipelago. Lionair Inc. also operates air ambulances and is helping the government in its anti-coronavirus program by transporting medical supplies. Donald Mendoza, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said the firm’s fleet would be grounded and investigated.