Wednesday, October 25, 2006
2 Air Force pilots hurt in landing accident
A PHILIPPINE Air Force bomber plane malfunctioned after taking part in an ongoing training exercise with US military pilots at the former American air base in Clark Field Pampanga on Tuesday morning, injuring its two pilots.
Air Force spokesman Augusto dela Peña identified the injured pilots as one Captain Feria and Lieutenant Fajardo. The two are undergoing treatment in an Air Force hospital inside the Clark Air Base for minor injuries.
Dela Peña said the OV-10 Bronco that the two officers were piloting "swerved to the right of the runway upon landing due to collapse of the right main landing gear" at around 10 a.m. The plane had a tail number 134.
"The aircrews have just completed maneuvers for the RP-US Talon Vision Exercise when the incident occurred during landing," said dela Peña. He said the training module that the aircraft took part in was a "joint attack tactics" with a Harrier fighter-bomber plane of the US Marine Corps.
The Talon Vision exercise is conducted by the US and the Philippine military on a yearly basis and is sanctioned by the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty. The two-week training, which commenced last October 16, aims to improve the two countries' interoperability.
"The aircraft suffered major damage, particularly at the right wing, landing gear, the nose gear and the right engine," the Air Force spokesman said, adding "we needed a crane to lift the aircraft."
Dela Peña said the Air Force leadership has ordered the grounding of all the 14 OV-10 aircraft in its disposal pending an investigation on the incident.
He said an investigation team has been sent to Clark to look into the incident. (VR/Sunnex)
(October 25, 2006 issue)
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