This time kills two
February 24, 2010
News clip courtesy of abs-cbn
Video graphics courtesy of GMANews.TV
Two Philippine Air Force pilots were killed Wednesday when their OV-10 Bronco aircraft with registration no. 399 crashed at 2:55 p.m during flight training exercise at Crow Valley, a gunnery and bombing field in Tarlac.Killed were pilot Capt. Jose Enriquez Leonardo Corpuz and his co-pilot 1st Lt. Apollo Carandang.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public information chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said their plane took off at 11:25 a.m from Clark Field, Pampanga, home of the 1st Air Division.
“The remains of the two pilots were already recovered and were flown to Villamor Air base last night. On the other hand, a team from the 15th Strike Wing is already on its way to the crash site to retrieve the debris of the plane. We will have to wait for the results of the investigation” says Brawner.
The Air force were conducting aerial gunnery and bombing training at the Camp O' Donell as part of Teak Piston, a joint military exercise with the US that opened early this month.
Maj. Gen. Lino Horacio Lapinid, Commander of the 1st Air Division, said the ill fated OV-10 plane was manufactured on June 16, 1971. It was donated by the Royal Thai Air Force to the PAF on May 2, 2004. It nose-dived after delivering a practice bomb at around 2:45 p.m.
"It suddenly dived, supposedly it was recovering from a delivery of bomb. It was involved in an air-to-ground delivery of bomb…It was carrying a practice bomb," Lapinid said.
Lapinid said no other Philippine or American aircraft was flying during of the conduct of the specific training module.
The crash happened less than a month after a 12-seater Nomad plane went down in Cotabato City on Jan. 28 killing nine people including a civilian.Last January 4, an OV-10 malfunctioned and made an emergency landing at Bangoy airport in Davao City during regular maintenance operations check flight. The plane’s landing gear collapsed during the landing process. No was killed or injured in the incident.
The PAF OV-10 aircraft provides close air support to ground troops operating against insurgent forces in the country.
we are killing the brightest and the best of the country's future leaders
ReplyDeletethat's what you get if you force to fly an aging aircraft (or we must say flying coffins) with cannibalized parts! replace the broncos with fast modern multi-role fighter/attack jets such as the panavia tornado which will be retired by the british royal air force in 2012!
ReplyDeletePlease see attached link it the web page for the AFP Modernization. Lets vote for Philippine Air Force to be the prioty of the AFP Modernization this has been long overdue.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.afpmodernization.mil.ph/