Family of missing Saudi aviation missing in Philippines believes he is alive

Cairo: More than a year after he disappeared while flying a training plane in the Philippines, the family of young Saudi aviation student Abdullah Al Sharif believes he is still alive.

On May 18, last year, Abdullah, 23 at the time, went missing along with his Filipino instructor on a training flight. There has since been no clue to unlock the mystery of their disappearance despite efforts of the Saudi embassy in Manila and search conducted by the Philippine authorities. Against all the odds, his family has not given up hope.

“The past months have been full of attempts and efforts by the family to find him, but it has been to no avail,” Abdullah’s brother, Abdul Majid, said.

“The Philippine authorities have procrastinated on the issue as though they had hidden something from the family, he told Saudi newspaper Okaz without elaborating.

Abdul Majid said the family still holds onto hope that his brother will be found and that the Saudi Embassy will do more to this end.

“Information available to us is that the plane disappeared and did not crash and that Abdullah and his Philippine escort are alive,” he added without giving details.

There has been no comment from the Saudi Embassy or the Philippine authorities.

The aircraft disappeared from radar on the Occidental Mindoro.

At the time, the Saudi Embassy said it had set up a working team cooperating with the Philippine authorities in search for the missing trainee and his instructor.