MANILA: New documents relating to the “mystery” disappearance of a Saudi student pilot have been handed to Philippines authorities by the Kingdom’s envoy to the southeast Asian country.

Saudi Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. Abdullah Al-Bussairy on Wednesday asked Manila’s Department of National Defense (DND) to launch a fresh probe into the case of missing Abdullah Khalid Al-Sharif.

Despite a massive search and rescue operation, there has been no trace of the 23-year-old and his Filipino flying instructor Capt. Jose Nelson Yapparcon since their Beechcraft Baron 55 (BB-55) trainer plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off from San Jose airport in Occidental Mindoro on May 17.

However, new information has since come to light, and Al-Bussairy met with Filipino Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to present the latest documentation in a bid to help bring “closure” to the case.

“The Saudi Arabia ambassador came to me to submit documents in relation to the Saudi national student pilot that was lost off the Mindoro coast last month,” Lorenzana said in a text message. “These are newly obtained documents that may have been missed by the initial investigation.”

Lorenzana added that the Saudi envoy “wanted the DND to conduct another investigation using these documents to ascertain what really happened to that ill-fated trainer plane so that the family of the student pilot can put closure to this case.”

The matter was brought up by Al-Bussairy during talks with Lorenzana at Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo military headquarters in the Philippines.

Following the disappearance of tutor Yapparcon and Al-Sharif, who had been training at the Orient Flying School, a major search using sonar scanning equipment was initially conducted by the coast guard, navy, and other volunteers off the coast of San Jose town.

It was later decided to widen the search to include coastal and inland areas of Occidental Mindoro. Army troops were also tapped to comb the rugged offshore island of Ambulong, located northeast of San Jose airport.

Brig. Gen. Marceliano Teofilo, Commander of the 203rd Infantry Brigade covering Mindoro island, said the sea search had been suspended but authorities had asked fishermen in the area to report any sightings related to the missing aircraft and the two pilots.

Any new leads would trigger a resumption of the search, he said, adding that soldiers continued to hunt for clues on Ambulong island, especially its forested areas. “We’ve also asked for the help of the local populace there, particularly the Mangyans,” the Army chief told Arab News.

“It’s a big mystery. It’s really very unusual that an aircraft would just disappear (without a trace). There was no wreckage of the plane, except for the bag of the Filipino pilot that was retrieved (following their disappearance), and that’s why there are speculations,” he added.

Teofilo stressed that investigations into the case by the country’s army and police were continuing. “You just don’t go missing. And how come the (Filipino pilot’s) bag was retrieved and yet no other debris (of the aircraft) were found (assuming it crashed into the sea)? So, it is really something we are looking into.”