RP air controllers suspended

Wed, 26 Apr 2000 | Source: AP

MANILA (AP): Air transport officials suspended on Tuesday three air traffic controllers who were on duty when an Air Philippines plane crashed outside southern Davao city last week, killing all 131 people aboard in the country's worst air disaster.

The Boeing 737-200 jet plowed into a coconut grove on a hill on Samal island near Davao airport last Wednesday, killing all 124 passengers and seven crew.

Air Transportation Office chief Jacinto Ortega summoned three air traffic controllers assigned to Davao airport during the crash to Manila for the investigation.

Ortega ordered the suspension amid calls by some relatives of crash victims for an independent investigation into the plane crash.

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