A MEDICAL evacuation helicopter with five people on board went missing on Wednesday morning, said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
The helicopter, carrying a pilot, a patient, two companions and a nurse, was flying to a hospital in Brooke’s Point in Palawan from another town in the island province when it went missing, the CAAP said.
All those aboard are Filipinos except for the nurse, who is American, said Eric Apolonio, the aviation agency’s spokesperson, citing a report from a rescue coordination center.
The helicopter was determined to be an Alouette with registry number N45VX and operated by the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services based in Brooke’s Point.
It took off at 7:30 a.m. from Brooke’s Point to pick up the patient at Mangsee Island in Balabac and was expected to arrive at 10:30 a.m. at the hospital.
Coast guard vessels and a small plane were deployed in the search for the helicopter, which was operated by a medical aviation services firm, aviation and coast guard officials said.
It was the latest in a series of aviation incidents involving small aircraft in the country in recent weeks.
A Cessna 340 plane carrying two Filipino crew and two Australian energy company consultants crashed on Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, in Albay province southeast of Manila on Feb. 18. Their bodies were retrieved from the wreckage after days of a high-risk search.
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