MANILA - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will finally lodge charges against those responsible in the plane crash that led to the death of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and two others.

CAAP director general William K. Hotchkiss III told ANC that they “saw some lapses, and definitely this has to go through the due process clauses.”

President Benigno Aquino III announced last November that pilot error, insufficiency of experience, connivance and a slew of factors affected the air worthiness of the plane carrying Robredo on that fateful day on August 18.

With Robredo on the plane were Captain Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese pilot trainee Kshitiz Chand.

In his report to Aquino, CAAP aircraft accident investigation and inquiry board chief Capt. Amado Suliman said they investigated “man, machine and management” in pinpointing the cause of the crash.

“Accordingly, pilot error caused the crash. Pilot Bahinting improperly handled a one-engine inoperative emergency,” Suliman has said. Bahinting is also the president and chief executive of Aviatours, which owns the ill-fated Piper Seneca.

Hotchkiss also noted of a “connivance between the CAAP inspectors and the company itself.”

The CAAP investigation also revealed earlier there was improper issuance of airworthiness certificate for the aircraft.