BAGUIO CITY – Two Philippine Air Force personnel were injured after the fixed-wing training aircraft they were flying crashed into a dense forest in Mount Cabuyao, Barangay Poblacion, Tuba town, Benguet province, on Wednesday, May 20.
Police Lt. Col. Roy Calulot, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera, identified one of the victims as 1st Lt. Ruth Angelique R. Pasos of the PAF. Her companion, also a member of the PAF, was unidentified.
Calulot said the plane, a PAF SF260 trainer aircraft with tail No.10-39 and operating under the call sign Cougar Delta 1, crashed at 10:20 a.m. and reported to the police by the barangay chairman at around 11:40 p.m.
The Tuba Municipal Police Station, Baguio City Police Office Station 10, Bureau of Fire Protection-Tuba, and Tuba Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office responded and recovered the victims.
The gray, white, and orange plane with the Philippine Air Force logo took off from Basilio Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.
Its last monitored location was two nautical miles northwest of Loakan Airport here before disappearing.
Follow-up investigation is ongoing. The condition of the victims and the cause of the incident were undisclosed as of posting time. (Zaldy Comanda)
