Suspected wreckage from a plane crash in the Philippines has been spotted near the active crater of the Mayon Volcano

Manila, Philippines – Philippine authorities on Monday prepared to send a search mission near the crater of a restless volcano after spotting the suspected wreckage of a small plane that went missing with four people on board over the weekend. Two Filipino pilots and two Australians were on board the Cessna 340, which lost contact after taking off from Albay province southeast of the capital on Saturday morning en route to Manila, the Authority said. Philippine civil aviation.

The Australians worked as consultants for Energy Development Corp., a major geothermal energy company. The company said it has deployed teams supported by helicopters and drones to help with the search.

“We won’t stop until they are found,” company official Allan Barcena said.

Mayor Carlos Baldo of the town of Camalig in Albay and other officials told reporters Sunday that an aerial search had spotted the suspected wreckage, including the tail, scattered about 1,150 feet from the crater on the steep slope southwest of Mayon Volcano. There was no sign of people.

A ground search was hampered by rainy weekend weather.

About 60 search and rescue personnel can scale the 8,077-foot Mayon when the weather clears, Baldo said. They will also need help from volcano experts and local officials due to the turmoil of Mayon, one of the country’s 24 active volcanoes.

“It’s a very risky operation,” Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Teresito Bacolcol told The Associated Press. “It’s a race against time and it’s a matter of life and death, but there’s also the danger of rockfall and volcanic lahar.”

Villagers are normally prohibited from entering a permanent danger zone 3.7 miles around the volcano.

“There are no other planes missing in the area and there are accounts from locals, who saw the plane flying at an unusual altitude before hearing an explosion,” Baldo told AP by phone.

He said a helicopter could drop off rescuers closer to the suspected crash site.

A popular tourist attraction due to its near-perfect cone, the Mayon last erupted in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of villagers.

It is currently under the second of five volcanic alert levels, which means volcanic earthquakes, steam and gas emissions, ground deformations and intermittent ash and steam explosions have been detected sporadically. . Alert five means a major and deadly volcanic eruption is underway.