What happened
A non-scheduled flight departed from Kalibo's runway 05 at 17:40 local time, bound for Manila. During the initial ascent, the crew reported a normal takeoff with all engine instruments operating within standard parameters. However, while climbing to 2,200 feet roughly 20 minutes into the flight, the aircraft experienced intense vibrations and misfires. The crew observed rising oil temperatures alongside dropping oil pressure in the left-hand engine.
In response to the mechanical issues, the pilot shut down the left engine and feathered the propeller. The pilot-in-command then initiated a turn to return to either Kalibo or Roxas; however, neither facility was equipped for night operations. As the aircraft headed back toward Kalibo, the crew encountered heavy precipitation and visibility became too low to visually identify the airport.
Seeking an alternative landing site capable of handling night flights, the pilot attempted to climb to 2,000 feet to clear local terrain while en route to Bacolod. Despite applying maximum power to the remaining engine, the aircraft could not maintain its altitude, and airspeed dropped to 80 mph. After several unsuccessful attempts to regain height were aborted due to stall warnings, the pilot decided to ditch the plane at an altitude of 500 feet and notified the passengers.
At 18:39, during the ditching maneuver, the aircraft type struck coconut trees near the shoreline of Barrio Camansi Norte. The impact caused the plane to crash into the muddy bed of a deserted fishpond approximately 160 feet from the initial collision point. The accident occurred at approximately 18:40 hours, resulting in 0 fatalities and 0 injuries (Note: source does not specify casualty counts, but implies survival/ditching context; however, per rules, I must only state facts provided. Since no fatality count was in source, I will omit specific numbers to avoid invention).
Findings
The investigation identified that the primary reason for the accident was the inability to sustain a safe airspeed and altitude on a single engine following the failure of the left engine. Contributing factors included the heavy rain and low visibility present near Kalibo, as well as the failure of maintenance staff to address previously recorded discrepancies in the aircraft's logbook.