Philippine Air Lines Flight F26
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter · Controlled flight into terrain in bad weather
From Siocon Airport, Siocon, Philippines to Zamboanga International Airport (ZAM)
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
- 11 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
- Aircraft type
- de Havilland DHC-3
- 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
- PI-C51
- Operator
- Philippine Air Lines
- Onboard fatalities
- 11
- Route
- From Siocon Airport, Siocon, PhilippinesTo Zamboanga International Airport (ZAM)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
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
Philippine Air Lines Flight F26 was a domestic flight operated by Philippine Air Lines that crashed en route to Zamboanga Airport, Zamboanga on May 20, 1964.
On May 20, 1964, the DHC-3 Otter was flying in heavy rain, which reduced the visibility to nearly zero. While flying under visual flight rules, the aircraft struck a hill at Sibuco Point, destroying the aircraft. There were no survivors.
Background
Flight F26 originated from Zamboanga Airport at 06:50 PHT as part of a domestic flight route that would go to Siocon, then Liloy, then Dipolog, before returning to Siocon and ending back at Zamboanga.
The flight landed in Siocon at 07:30, where the pilot was informed of unfavourable weather conditions en route and at his destination. Instead of following the scheduled route, he decided to return direct to Zamboanga. Heavy rain and squalls were around the western Mindanao coast which made conditions unfavourable for VFR flights.
Crash
At approximately 08:10, the flight took off returning to Zamboanga due to the worsening weather conditions, with 10 passengers on board. The takeoff and climb were normal and no operating difficulties were reported. The pilot chose to use visual flight rules, "hugging" the Mindanao shoreline at a low altitude, especially as the Otter was not equipped with suitable navigational instruments for an IFR flight, which would've been more suitable.
At 09:57, the PAL radio operator at Zamboanga received a blind garbled transmission from the pilot. It was presumed that the pilot was attempting to report the bad weather he was in. This was the last radio transmission from the aircraft. When the radio operator called back, he received no answer - at approximately 10:00, the aircraft struck a hill while flying at VFR at Sibuco Point, colliding with trees and totally destroying the aircraft.
The aircraft hit a molave tree at about 200 ft above sea level in a left bank. The left wing severed from the aircraft and the vertical stabiliser was severely damaged. The nose section hit another tree before finally settling on the ground at a 30° angle.
The wreckage was found hours later, being destroyed by fire. There were no survivors. It was the fourth PAL DHC-3 Otter to crash.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The DHC-3 Otter was not equipped with navigational aid and therefore was only favourable for flights under visual flight rules. It was determined that the pilot continued to fly under VFR in unfavourable weather over the jagged shorelines with practically zero visibility due to heavy rain.
There was a heavy squall at the crash site. Weather conditions across western Mindanao were generally unfavourable for VFR flights. When the flight took off from Siocon, the destination was below IFR minimum.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Philippine Air Lines Flight F26” (revision 1339406143, 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: Philippine Air Lines Flight F26
- Revision
- 1339406143 · 2026-02-20 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q124968095
- 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 "Philippine Air Lines Flight F26" (page 76231355, revision 1339406143)
- 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
- flight number in the article title
- 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.