Philippines Shaken by Air Disaster

Standing under an umbrella among body bags holding victims of Wednesday’s plane crash, Philippine Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado could only shake his head, stunned by the nation’s third major transportation accident in just more than a week.

“It’s the last thing we need,” said Mercado, who also heads the national disaster agency.

All 131 people aboard Air Philippines Flight 541 were killed when the plane plowed through coconut palms on Samal Island as it prepared to land at nearby Davao airport.

Workers today found the flight data recorder in the wreckage, and the cockpit voice recorder was found Wednesday. Data from the two are crucial for crash investigators to study what went wrong on the flight.

It was the country’s worst aviation disaster--but far from its worst transportation disaster. The Philippines has been plagued for years by accidents, many involving the ferries that are the main mode of transportation among the country’s more than 7,000 islands.

As recently as Monday, a passenger ferry struck a fish trap and sank. All 137 people aboard were rescued in that accident. On April 12, an overloaded wooden cargo ship illegally carrying more than 200 passengers capsized, killing at least 148 people.

Transportation Secretary Vicente Rivera Jr. pledged that the government would work to boost travel safety. But, he said, people find ways of violating regulations even if authorities strictly implement them.

Many ferries in use here are simple motorized outriggers or old refurbished vessels from Japan. And several of the newer airlines that have sprung up since the industry was deregulated use aging planes and have experienced safety problems.

Air Philippines and two other, newer airlines have had their operations suspended at least once for safety violations.

A congressional committee will begin investigating Wednesday’s crash next week. Rep. Danilo Suarez, vice chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on transportation and communications, said his inquiry will focus on the history of the Air Philippines 737-200 jet and whether airport navigational aids were functioning.

He said the Philippines’ lack of an advanced weather information system compounds problems caused by the country’s mountainous landscape.