THE Philippine Navy yesterday said investigation is now on “full swing” in connection with last Thursday’s crash of its trainer helicopter in Cavite City that killed two pilots.
In a radio interview, Navy spokesman Capt. John Percie Alcos said investigators have inspected the wreckage of the ill-fated Robinson R-22 helicopter.
The helicopter crashed near the Cavite City public market during a training flight, leading to the death of two Navy pilots — Lieutenant Jan Kyle Borres and Ensign Izzah Taccad.
“The investigation is in full swing,” said Alcos, referring to the probe being conducted by a team that was created shortly after the incident.
“I cannot disclose the details of the investigation but I do know that they (investigators) have inspected the aircraft,” he said.
Alcos said the investigators have also gone through the documents related to the training flight.
The Navy acquired two units of Robinson R22 in 2007 and the helicopter that crashed last Thursday was their second. The other one was declared not airworthy five years ago.
The remains of Borres and Taccad were brought to the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio last Friday when AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr visited the wake.
Brawner “extended sympathies to the families of the fallen pilots during this difficult time and assured them of the organization’s full support,” said AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said yesterday.
The Navy said Vice President Sara Duterte visited the wake on Saturday and “expressed her deepest sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families and to the Philippine Navy for the loss of the two naval aviators, and acknowledged their honorable service and sacrifice to the nation.”
