Philippines' worst air crash kills 131

DAVAO, (PHILIPPINES), APRIL 19. A Philippine airliner packed with Easter holidaymakers crashed and burst into flames on a resort island near the southern city of Davao today, killing all 131 passengers and crew, officials said.

It was the country's worst air disaster.

The Air Philippines flight GAP 541 was preparing to land at Davao airport at the end of an early morning flight from Manila when it slammed into a coconut plantation in the hills of nearby Samal island, the officials said.

The cause of the crash was not known.

The Boeing 737-200 was packed to capacity with people leaving the capital for the long Easter break, which begins on Thursday. Airline officials said there were 124 passengers, including four infants, and seven crew on board. There were 122 seats for passengers on the plane.

``It is confirmed that there are no survivors, unfortunately,'' an Air Philippines spokeswoman said. The Transport Secretary also said all aboard were killed. ``All are dead. Some bodies are in pieces.'' The tragedy was the latest in a week of transport disasters in the country of 7,000 islands.

The Defence Secretary, Mr. Orlando Mercado, said the plane circled over Davao airport preparing to land and then crashed. ``There was a low cloud ceiling over the runway, but we have no information what caused the crash,'' he said. ``The retrieval of the bodies is still going on.''

The plane disintegrated on impact, leaving only its tail section protruding from the ground. Parts of the wreckage were burning and body parts were strewn around the site, local reporters said from the crash scene. Meanwhile, investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder.

``We cannot identify the bodies because they are broken into pieces ... not one whole body has been found,'' a reporter for DZMM radio said.

An Air Traffic Official said the weather and visibility were fair and there was no immediate explanation of what caused the crash.

The pilot made last contact with the Davao control tower at about 7 a.m. (2300 GMT on Tuesday) when he said he was 11 km away and was on the final approach.

``One minute after that when the controller called, there was no answer,'' said an official at Manila's rescue coordinating centre, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

- Reuters

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