Crash
Flight 215 departed from Cauayan Airport on a routine flight to Manila Airport in the morning of April 21, 1970. The flight had passed through severe rainstorms while en route.
At 11:34am, captain Diego Liwag requested permission to make an instrument approach to Manila. [3] Shortly after, while the aircraft was cruising at 10,500 feet (3,200m), a bomb exploded in the aircraft's lavatory leading to a rapid decompression and a complete separation of the tail section, leading into an uncontrolled descent and in-flight breakup before crashing into a rural area near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. [4] [5]
The flight was around 70 miles from Manila when the explosion occurred. All 32 passengers and 4 crew were killed in the incident, and wreckage was strewn across a wide area. [3]
Investigation and aftermath
It was reported that all of the occupants were burned beyond recognition.
A bomb in the lavatory was the determined cause of the incident, though it was not able to be traced to an exact source. Possible causes included a suicide bombing, political sabotage contributed by limited airport security development at the time, though in the end was marked as "unlawful interference". [2] [4] [5] [6]
The bombing set a precedent for increased airport security in the Philippines amidst growing internal tension.
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