Wreckage Of Missing Plane Found

Rescuers found the wreckage Tuesday of a passenger plane that disappeared with 104 people aboard in the southern Philippines. An unconfirmed report said there were at least 15 survivors.

The search for the twin-engine Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 aircraft started shortly after it failed to land as scheduled Monday morning in the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro.

The plane's wreckage was found on Mount Sumagaya, 28 miles northeast of the plane's destination, rescue workers said.

Radio station Bombo quoted a local mayor as saying 30 people were confirmed dead, but at least 15 people were still alive.

However, an Associated Press reporter in one of the search helicopters saw no signs of life among the wreckage.

Parts of the plane appeared to have slipped down the mountainside.

Air transportation officials said Tuesday the airplane was making a visual, not instrument, landing approach when it disappeared. The plane had made an unscheduled stop at another airport and therefore was not on a normal flight path.

The plane's route took it over high mountains and deep ravines, with thick clouds covering some slopes.

The plane was carrying 99 passengers, including five children, and five crew when it disappeared. Two of the passengers were tentatively identified as Japanese and Austrian.

Its last radio contact was with the Cagayan de Oro airport tower 15 minutes before it was due to land.

In that radio call, the pilot said he was 42 miles from the airport and starting to descend. There was no report that the plane was in trouble.

A local religious group and an army detachment reported hearing an explosion near the 7,260-foot Mount Sumagaya at about the time the plane disappeared.

Cebu Pacific, which began operations in March 1996, is one of several new airlines established after the Philippine government deregulated the aviation industry. The DC-9 was purchased used from Air Canada, it said.

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