This Aug. 19, 2012 photo released by the Philippine Red Cross Masbate shows part of a plane carrying Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo as it lies on a boat after being recovered near the crash site off Masbate city, about 235 miles southwest of Manila, Philippines Sunday Aug. 19, 2012. The small plane carrying 4 persons crashed into the sea Saturday while attempting an emergency landing. One person was rescued but Robredo and the two pilots are still missing, officials said.MANILA, Philippines – More than 200 rescuers were searching Sunday for Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and his two pilots after their small plane crashed into the sea while attempting an emergency landing. An aide of Robredo made a dramatic escape from the doomed plane and was helping in the search, officials said.
The four-seat Piper Seneca took off Saturday from central Cebu city, where Robredo had met local officials, and was 30 minutes into the flight to his hometown of Naga city when one of two engines failed and the plane began to wiggle. The Filipino pilot and Nepali student co-pilot scrambled to land in Masbate province but missed the runway by about half a kilometer (half a mile), Transport Secretary Mar Roxas said.
President Benigno Aquino III flew Sunday with his defense chief and the heads of the national police and the military to Masbate, about 380 kilometers (235 miles) southeast of Manila, to oversee the U.S. military-backed search.
Only the tip of the right wing has been found so far, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told The Associated Press.
Dozens of divers scoured the sea while helicopters and ships crisscrossed overhead. Troops and police searched along the coast and a U.S. Navy plane flew over the area to help look for the wreckage.