Philippine Jet Crashes; All 131 Believed Killed

An Air Philippines jetliner carrying 131 people crashed in the southern Philippines today, and officials said all aboard were believed killed.

The Boeing 737-200 circled its destination city of Davao, 625 miles southeast of Manila, its starting point, before going down in a coconut grove on nearby Samal Island, officials said.

Emergency crews arriving at the site of the smoldering plane said there were no signs of survivors. If all aboard were killed, it would be the worst plane crash in Philippine history.

The pilot of a small plane that flew over the area told authorities that the airliner appeared to be destroyed except for its tail section.

Air Philippines said the plane was carrying 131 people: 124 passengers, six crew members and one mechanic.

There was no immediate word on what caused the disaster or why a mechanic was aboard. The airline said that the plane was given its normal maintenance check before taking off and that it checked out OK.

Weather conditions at the time of the crash were good, the government weather bureau said.

In the country’s worst previous air disaster, a Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 jet crashed in 1998 near the top of a fog-shrouded mountain in the southern Philippines, killing all 104 people aboard.