MANILA — A light plane carrying Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo crashed into the sea Saturday while attempting an emergency landing. One person was rescued but Robredo and the two pilots were missing, officials said. Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the aircraft — a four-seat, twin-engine Piper Seneca — took off from central Cebu city and was heading to Robredo's hometown of Naga city in Camarines Sur province when the pilot informed the Masbate airport that it would make an emergency landing. The plane was unable to reach the airport and crashed into the sea. He said an aide of Robredo was able to jump out and was rescued. Rescue workers joined by fishermen were searching the waters off Masbate city, about 380 km southwest of Manila, for Robredo and the two pilots — a Filipino and a Nepali — but had to halt the underwater search because of darkness, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno said. The government accepted an offer from the US military attache for an American naval survey team currently in the Philippines to help in the search, Roxas said. – AP
