A MULTI-PURPOSE helicopter of the Philippine Navy crashed in Cavite yesterday morning, causing injuries to five pilots and crew members of the aircraft.
Navy spokesman Cmdr. John Percie Alcos said the helicopter was on a training and maintenance flight at the Sangley Aerodrome when it “crash-landed” at 10:18 a.m.
“The aircraft underwent a scheduled maintenance inspection and based on existing procedures and protocols, we have to conduct training and maintenance flight, functional maintenance check before we send the aircraft to the operational area,” said Alcos.
“It was during the test, the training and maintenance flight when the aircraft crash-landed,” added Alcos.
On board the aircraft were a test pilot, a co-pilot, and three crew members.
Alcos said the five personnel suffered minor injuries and were brought to the 15th Strike Wing Hospital for medical evaluation.
Asked if the helicopter can still be repaired, Alcos said the Navy is waiting for results of an investigation “to determine the airworthiness of the aircraft.”
Alcos said the Navy is conducting a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
“Moreover, all similar aircraft will temporarily be grounded during the investigation,” he said.
The Navy, through the AFP modernization program, has acquired five AW-109 helicopters for P1.33 billion “but we currently have four, including the one that crash-landed this morning,” Alcos said.
Asked what happened to other one, Alcos said, “I think there was a similar incident a couple of years ago.”
The AW-109 that figured in the incident was not brought back to service as it was deemed beyond repair.
“Rest assured that the Philippine Navy is committed to maintaining high standards of operational safety and will use the findings to improve our procedures moving forward,” said Alcos.
