South Australians Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam feared dead in Philippines plane crash as wreckage found
Santos has issued a statement on two of its former Adelaide employees, missing after their small plane crashed in the Philippines on the weekend.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Two South Australians are feared dead after a small plane crashed just 350m from a volcano crater in central Philippines as bad weather hampers a ground search of the accident site.
Engineers Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam have been identified as the two passengers on board the flight which crashed not long after it took off at 6.43am Saturday morning, according to Filipino media.
Mr Chipperfield worked for major SA-headquartered energy company Santos for the best part of 16 years in several senior positions before leaving the company in 2021. Mr Santhanam worked for Santos across various roles for seven years until late 2020.
A Santos spokesperson said despite the men no longer working for the company, both men had forged deep friendships with staff during their time there.
“Simon and Karthi worked at Santos for many years and have a number of friends and former colleagues throughout the Adelaide and Brisbane offices,” they said.
“Representatives from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) have been arranged to be on site in both our Adelaide and Brisbane offices during this difficult time.
“Our thoughts are with Simon and Karthi’s families and loved ones.”
Mr Chipperfield is an industry consultant for University of Adelaide while Mr Santhanam completed his MBA at UniSA in 2020.
A former colleague of Mr Chipperfield and Mr Santhanam, who worked with the two men at Santos in SA, described them as “good people” and model professionals.
He said he worked “in foreign countries with them”, which involved “working with stakeholders”.
“I knew them to be good people, who were always very considerate of others, especially other cultures and values personally, as well as being professionally excellent in what they did,” the former colleague said.
The Cessna 340 aircraft the two men were on went missing shortly after departing for Manila from Bicol International Airport, south of the capital, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said in a statement.
The plane was carrying four people – two passengers, a pilot and a crew member, the aviation regulator added.
The wreckage of the Cessna was found on Sunday, according to Inquirer.net, the website of the local newspaper. But there was no sign of the four on board.
Images show the wreckage just 350 meters from the crater of Mayon Volcano, at the forested boundary between the towns of Guinobatan and Camalig.
However, search teams face major problems as the volcano is under an alert level 2 and there are fears torrential rain could cause mudflows from the volcano and flooding.
Also feared killed in the crash were captain Rufino James Crisostomo Jr and his mechanic Joel Martin.
The Bureau of Fire Protection in Albay reported the flight departed amid moderate rain and was last spotted 5 minutes after takeoff. Communication with the pilot was cut off at this point.
Camalig fire station chief senior inspector Hamor Laguilles said the plane was “flying too low, (emitting) smoke and making a loud crumbling sound before it disappeared,” according to local media.
It is believed Mr Chipperfield and Mr Santhanam were flying after a site visit at Bac-Man Geothermal Power Plant.
The pair are engineers at Energy Development Corporation (EDC) – the Philippines’ largest renewable energy company which owns the plant between Bacon, Sorsogon City and Manito, Albay – according to their LinkedIn profiles.
EDC released a statement on Sunday confirming that the four people on board the aircraft were connected with the company, Inqurier.net reported.
“Our primary concern is the swift and safe rescue of our four colleagues who were on board the aircraft. We are thankful to (Camalig) Mayor (Irwin) Baldo for mobilising his team to help us do this,” said lawyer Allan Barcena, assistant vice president and head of corporate relations and communications of EDC, in the statement.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said it was aware of reports authorities had lost contact with the light aircraft.
“The Australian Embassy is in contact with local authorities and is providing consular assistance to the families of two Australians reported to be missing,” the spokesperson said.
“Our thoughts are with their friends and loved ones at this difficult time.”
The aviation incident comes less than a month after another Cessna plane went missing on January 24 in the northern province of Isabela. A search for that plane’s wreckage is still ongoing, Mr Apolonio said.
In a separate incident, two Philippine air force aviators were also killed in a training exercise last month when their SF260 Marchetti plane plummeted onto a rice paddy in Bataan province, near Manila.
Race to Melbourne: SA baby’s journey for heart surgery
First-time parents Brooke Guildford and Morgan Ellery rushed their five-week-old vomiting baby girl to hospital, only to receive a life-altering diagnosis.
Read more
Revealed: The 2024 SA School Sports Awards winners
The state’s top student athletes have been honoured at the SA School Sports Awards. See all the winners and watch the awards night live stream replay.
Read more