MANILA — The remains of all 4 passengers and crew of the Cessna 340 plane that crashed near Mayon 2 weeks ago have already been brought down from the volcano, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Thursday.

In a public briefing, CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said that authorities were already processing the remains of the victims, which included 2 Australian nationals, a pilot, and a co-pilot.

"Sa impormasyon po ng mayor ng Camalig, kaninang umaga naibaba na lahat, for process na po iyong mga cadaver," Apolonio said.

The remains of the victims had already been retrieved from the plane wreckage a week ago, but they had only been brought to the Mayon Volcano base camp.

It was only on Thursday morning when the remains were finally brought down from the volcano and into the Camalig, Albay proper.

'ACCIDENT'

Apolonio also said that they would have to consider recent aircraft incidents as "accidents," as all of them were fully compliant with CAAP rules and regulations.

This included the downed Cessna plane in Albay, the still missing Cessna plane in Isabela, and the medical helicopter that went missing on Wednesday morning in Palawan.

• Medical helicopter on way to Palawan with 5 on board reported missing - CAAP

"We have to consider this an accident o insidenteng nangyari na hindi natin maiwasan dahil fully compliant naman iyong tatlong nawawalang involved na aircraft for the last 2 months," he said.

He also noted that the missing helicopter, which was scheduled to pick up a female patient in Palawan's Mangsee island in Balabac town, had only been certified as airworthy last February.

As of Thursday, the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Air Force were still conducting a search and rescue operation for the helicopter, both by land and by air.

"Sana po makita nating buhay po iyong nawawalang eroplano at iyong mga pasahero nito para makauwi na sa kanilang mga pamilya," Apolonio added.