Plane inspector dismissed two years after Robredo plane crash

Two years after the plane crash that killed Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) dismissed the inspector who declared the ill-fated aircraft airworthy.

In a news release Thursday, the CAAP said the inspector, Fernando Valdez Abalos, was dismissed after the Office of the Ombudsman found him guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The decision, dated November 21, 2013, was approved by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang last September 12.

Abalos was the airworthiness inspector who issued the certificate for the Piper Seneca RP-C4431 plane that crashed into the waters off Masbate on August 18, 2012, killing Robredo as well as pilot Jessup Bahinting and student pilot Kshitiz Chand.

Senior Inspector June Abrazado, Robredo's police aide, was the lone survivor in the incident.

Plane crash

The plane started to experience engine trouble some 30 minutes after it took off from Mactan International Airport in Cebu. It continued its journey until it reached the Masbate coast, where Capt. Bahinting sent a distress signal to the Masbate airport.

However, no one was in the control tower during that time.

In March 2013, CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III filed an administrative complaint before the Ombudsman against Abalos for falsification of public documents and violation of the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, as well as gross misconduct against him and two employees of Aviatours Flyin', Inc., owner and operator of the Piper Seneca plane.

In the complaint, Hotchkiss said that upon investigation, the certificate of airworthiness for the Piper Seneca plane "was issued on the basis of fraudulent certifications allegedly by Abalos, as procured by the respondent personnel of Aviatour," the CAAP release said.

It added that the Ombudsman found probable cause against Abalos and Aviatours' Nelson Napata and Federico Omolon III, and recommended the filing of an Information for Falsification of Public Document against them at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.

In its resolution, the Ombudsman identified Napata and Omolon as co-conspirators in the falsification.

However, it dismissed the charge of violation of the Civil Aviation Authority Act against the three. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News