2012 Masbate Piper Seneca crash
Aviatour Air Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I · Crashed on approach due to engine failure and pilot error
From Mactan Cebu International Airport (CEB) to Naga Airport (WNP)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 4
- Survivors
- 1
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 1
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-34
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- RP-C4431
- Operator
- Aviatour Air
- Onboard fatalities
- 3
- Route
- From Mactan Cebu International Airport (CEB)To Naga Airport (WNP)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On August 18, 2012, a Piper PA-34 Seneca light aircraft with four people on board, including Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, crashed in the sea near the island province of Masbate, Philippines, while flying from Lapu-Lapu City to Naga, Camarines Sur. Robredo and two other occupants were killed in the accident.
Background
Interior and Local Government Secretary Robredo and his aide, Police Chief Inspector June Paolo Abrazado, were in Cebu to attend the National Summit of the Community Investigative Support and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. Robredo originally booked an airline flight from Mactan–Cebu International Airport to Manila, but instead chartered an aircraft to take him to Naga so he could be with his family.
Accident
The aircraft was a Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I, registered RP-C4431. In addition to Robredo and Abrazado there were two crew on board; the pilot who was also the CEO of Aviatour Air (the company that operated the aircraft); and the co-pilot, a Nepalese national.
En route to Naga the crew of the Seneca requested an emergency landing at Masbate Airport, citing engine problems. At around 15:30, Abrazado sent a text message, informing the recipient that they were returning to Cebu due to a problem with one of the propellers [sic]. He also asked to be re-booked for the earliest possible flight out of Mactan. However, at 16:02, Abrazado sent more messages, stating that the airplane was making an emergency landing at Masbate Airport.
The airplane then crashed into the sea off the shores of Masbate Island some 300 m away from the island's airport. Of the four people aboard the aircraft, the sole survivor, Robredo's aide, said that the airplane broke apart as it hit the water.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
President Aquino revealed details of the accident investigation and its findings during a media briefing on November 13, 2012. The investigation found that improper maintenance led to the right engine suffering an internal failure, which likely would have caused misfiring and intermittent operation of the fuel pump. The failure was gradual and the aircraft developed engine problems 23 minutes after take off. However, instead of turning back to Cebu, the pilot decided to continue the flight, until the engine failed completely 37 minutes later and the aircraft crashed during the subsequent attempt to land at Masbate. The investigation determined that the pilot didn't use the correct procedure for trying to land a Piper Seneca with one engine inoperative, in that he lowered the undercarriage and flaps too soon; and that during his last flight proficiency test he had not been tested with respect to flying with one engine inoperative.
The investigation found that the maintenance of the Seneca had been undertaken by Aviatour Air, but that the company was not authorised or approved to do so. It also found that records relating to a test flight for renewal of the aircraft's certificate of airworthiness in January 2012 had been falsified and that the test flight never took place. An airworthiness inspector of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines was suspended from duty as a result, pending the outcome of a separate investigation. Representatives of the pilot's family and Aviatour Air disputed the findings.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2012 Masbate Piper Seneca crash” (revision 1371057303, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2012 Masbate Piper Seneca crash
- Revision
- 1371057303 · 2026-08-24 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4626540
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2012 Masbate Piper Seneca crash" (page 36760296, revision 1371057303)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.