Philippine Airlines Flight 206

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Philippine Airlines Flight 206
Summary
Date June 27, 1987
Site Mount Ugu, Benguet, Philippines
Passengers 46
Crew 4
Fatalities 50
Survivors none
Aircraft type Hawker Siddeley HS 748
Aircraft name PR206
Operator Philippine Airlines
Tail number RP-C1015
Flight origin Manila Domestic Airport, Metro Manila, Philippines
Destination Loakan Airport, Baguio City

Philippine Airlines Flight 206 (PR206) was the route designator of a domestic flight from the Manila Domestic Airport, Metro Manila, Philippines to Loakan Airport, Baguio City. On June 27, 1987, the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 crashed onto a mountain en route to Baguio City, killing all 50 persons on board.

[edit] Accident

On the morning of June 27, 1987, Flight 206 departed the Manila Domestic Airport for Loakan Airport in Baguio City, around 250 kilometers north of Manila. It was scheduled to arrive at 11:10:00 Philippine Standard Time in Baguio, a city with an altitude of about 1500 meters.[1] As the plane approached Baguio City, its pilot reported poor visibility. A monsoon was also reported in the area.[2] Flight 206 disappeared from the radar screens around ten minutes before it was scheduled to land.[1]

The wreckage of the plane was discovered five hours after it had gone missing. Flight 206 had crashed onto the fog-shrouded slopes of Mount Ugu, a 2,086 meter-high mountain located between Itogon, Benguet and Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya.[3] The crash site was located around 180 meters below the summit of Mount Ugu, and 15 kilometers south of Loakan Airport.[1]

[edit] Fatalities

There were no survivors among the 46 passengers and 4 crew members on the plane. Most of the fatalities were Filipinos, including Catholic Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud, Prelate of Marawi City.[4] At least one American citizen died in the crash.[5]

The crash of Flight 206 was, at that time, the second worst commercial aviation accident in Philippine history.[1] The death toll has since been superseded by the crashes involving Cebu Pacific Air Flight 387 in 1998, and Air Philippines Flight 541 in 2001.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Associated Press. "50 Killed in Philippine Air Crash", New York Times, 1987-06-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-03. 
  2. ^ Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 06261987. Air Disaster.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  3. ^ Top Ten Mountains: Above the Clouds. Smile Magazine Online: The Inflight Magazine of Cebu Pacific Air. Cebu Pacific Air (2007-10-01). Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  4. ^ Edwin C. Mercurio (Fall, 1987). Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud: “The Lamplighter” (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  5. ^ Agence France-Presse. "Bodies of Victims Recovered From Plane Crash in Philippines", 1987-06-28. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.