All Eight On Board Fatally Injured

An airplane departing from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippine capital of Manila caught fire on takeoff and went down, resulting in the fatal injury of all eight people on board.

CNN reports that the airplane was en route to Tokyo, Japan. Among those on board were one American and one Canadian. The others were all Filipino, according to the plane's manifest.

The Philippines News Agency said that the plane caught fire on the runway. Few other details are currently available.

The passengers included medical personnel, according to Richard Gordon, a spokesman for the Philippine Red Cross.

Channel News Asia reports that the plane was conducting a medical evacuation flight. The plane was owned by Philippines-registered charter service Lionair, which is not affiliated with the Indonesian airline of the same name.

The aircraft was a Westwind 24, according to the report. Three of the passengers were medical personnel, three were flight crew, and two were a patient and a companion.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Source report
Source report