Philippines--Crashed Jet Flew Too Low

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Nando Times

MANILA, Philippines (April 24, 2000 10:47 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - An Air Philippines jet that crashed into the top of a hill last week was flying about 1,000 feet lower than the required height, an air transport official said Monday. The crash killed all 131 people aboard.

Despite the report of Air Transport Office executive director Rolando Luna, officials with the government and the airline say they still do not know what caused the Boeing 737-200 jet to crash Wednesday, and they don't know why the plane was flying so low.

The jet slammed into a 500-foot, coconut tree-covered hill on Samal island near Davao airport in the southern Philippines, killing all 124 passengers and seven crew in the country's worst air disaster.

The plane should have been flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet by the time it was five miles outside the airport, preparing to land, Luna said.

Air transport investigators were still considering all possible causes, including sabotage, he said.

According to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press, the pilot reported low visibility minutes before the plane rammed into the hill on Samal, about 610 miles southeast of Manila. But he reported nothing unusual in his final transmission to air controllers, according to the transcript.

Air Philippines says the plane passed a normal maintenance check before takeoff in Manila.

The plane's two "black boxes" - the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder - have been sent to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board for analysis.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), April 24, 2000


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