MANILA: On Wednesday, Saudi Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. Abdullah Al-Bussairy met with officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to discuss search and rescue operations looking for Saudi flying student Abdullah Khalid Al-Sharif. The 23-year-old, who had been training at the local Orient Flying School, went missing on May 17 along with his Filipino instructor Capt. Jose Nelson Yapparcon when their Beechcraft Baron 55 (BB55) aircraft vanished from radar shortly after takeoff from San Jose Airport in Mindoro Occidental. A statement by the Saudi Embassy said that as part of the efforts to find the pair, Al-Bussairy had held talks with CAAP Director General Capt. Jim Sydiongco. The statement added that during the meeting, Al-Bussairy queried a previous CAAP statement from May 20 that said debris from the missing aircraft had been found 44 kilometers south of the Mindoro Strait. Eric Apolonio, the CAAP spokesman, confirmed to Arab News that confusion had surrounded the debris that was found three days after the aircraft went missing, but that he could now confirm it was no longer being treated as relevant to the investigation. “It was assumed that the debris was part of the missing aircraft, which it is not. The wreckage has not been found so we cannot connect the debris to the BB55,” he said. He added that the CAAP Security and Intelligence Service had dispatched personnel to accompany the security team that the embassy sent to help in the search. “As of May 28, sonar equipment has already scanned 2,000 hectares of the seabed, but has yielded negative results,” said Apolonio. “Two divers, a Filipino and a Spaniard, have identified points of interest and we will be focusing on these areas in the coming days. We hope that the aircraft and its passengers will finally be found. We’re still hoping for the best.” Apolonio added that the CAAP was submitting daily reports to the Saudi Embassy to keep it updated on the situation as it unfolds.