The ill-fated aircraft that crash landed in the middle of a rice field in Bataan. Courtesy: Pilar, Bataan Municipal Police
THE Philippine Air Force (PAF) reported Wednesday a training aircraft carrying two pilots crashed in the middle of a rice field in Bataan.
PAF spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said the ill-fated aircraft was an SIAI-Marchetti SF260 trainer which crashed in Sitio Tabon, Brgy. Del. Rosario in Pilar town.
“We confirm that we have an aircraft that crash landed in Pilar, Bataan this morning. We cannot confirm yet if there are fatalities because we’re still gathering information from the ground but there were two pilots onboard,” Castillo said.
A spot report from the Pilar Municipal Police Station identified the pilots as Captains Ian Gerru C. Paulo and John Paulo O. Aviso.
It said the aircraft had body number 29.
The cause of the crash is already being probed.
Citing initial information from PAF, Castillo said that the trainer aircraft took off from Sangley Point, Cavite.
“The base of our SF260s is in Sangley so they took off from there and they usually go around the area,” Castillo shared.
“We have the SPYDER to monitor our aircraft but we lost track of the trainer at 10:34 a.m.,” she added.
SPYDER refers to Surface-to-Air Python and Derby Medium Range which is a ground-based air defense system that can monitor the air assets of the PAF.
Witnesses said Pilar they saw the plane “fast descending downward to [the] field” until it crashed.
Castillo said the PAF already deployed investigators on the crash site to get further information.
The PAF has already grounded its entire fleet of SF260s as part of its standard operating procedure (SOP), according to Castillo.
