Bodies of 2 pilots recovered in Philippine crash

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say divers have recovered the bodies of two pilots from a plane that crashed in the sea over the weekend and killed the country's popular interior secretary, ending a massive search.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin says the Filipino pilot, Capt. Jessup Bahinting, was retrieved from the wreckage of the four-seat Piper Seneca plane on the sea floor off central Masbate province Wednesday. His Nepalese co-pilot, Kshitiz Chand, was found floating Thursday.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo's body was retrieved Tuesday in a U.S. Navy-backed search supervised by President Benigno Aquino III. Robredo's police aide managed to swim out of the doomed plane and survived.

With a stalled engine, the plane crashed at sea while attempting to land Saturday at the Masbate airport. The wreckage was brought ashore on Thursday.