2 missing after plane crashes on landing in Pangasinan

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines — A light aircraft on Tuesday exploded on landing at an airport here at about 10 a.m., police said.

Chief Inspector Realito Rodriguez, deputy police chief of Lingayen, said Japhit Chua and Raven John Mirasol, both student pilots who were seen boarding the plane here at 9:25 a.m., were missing.

He said policemen and rescuers did not find Chua or Mirasol in the plane or near the crash site.

Citing witnesses' accounts, Rodriguez said the plane (body number RP-C8204) veered off the runway as it touched down. It then crashed into a concrete wall and exploded.

Officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines here declined to issue a statement pending an investigation. (report from Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon)