A medical evacuation flight has crashed at Manila Airport in the Philippines, killing all on board. The IAI Westwind jet was reportedly chartered by the Philippine government to evacuate a sick patient to Tokyo.
The jet, which had the registration number RP-C5880, was scheduled to take off from Manilla’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 8pm on Sunday. Before making it off the tarmac, the plane caught fire, overshooting the runway as flames billowed from its wrecked hull. Fire crews extinguished the blaze within an hour.
According to local reporter Dexter Cabalza, the plane was carrying a crew of eight, including three medics and one patient. Airport authorities later confirmed that nobody on board survived.
It is unknown whether the patient was infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Prior to its tragic crash, the jet made a series of jaunts carrying medical supplies around the islands of the Philippines, and made trips further afield to Japan, Thailand and Taiwan. A photo published on the Department of Health’s facebook page earlier this week showed healthcare officials loading the plane with boxes of supplies.
The Philippines has recorded 1,418 cases of Covid-19 so far. The country’s health ministry said on Sunday that 343 new cases were confirmed overnight, marking the country’s largest daily increase in infections since the virus spread there in January. 71 people have died of the disease.
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