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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Trainer jet on rescue operation went missing
MANILA -- A trainer jet of the Philippine Air Force was reported missing on Monday after going on a maritime patrol in the disputed Spratlys island, military officials reported.
Air Force chief Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino said efforts are underway to locate the missing S211 jet, a trainer plane that had been converted by the Air Force as a reconnaissance plane.
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The missing jet with two pilots was one of two S211 aircrafts sent to the Philippine-held Kalayaan Group of Islands in the Spratlys to search for 26 Filipino crewmen whose fishing vessel capsized Thursday in stormy weather.
Tolentino said they have sought assistance from the US Pacific Command to dispatch its aircrafts to help in the ongoing search and rescue effort.
“They were on maritime patrol in Pag-asa, Kalayaan (Group of Islands). Their mission was to conduct maritime patrol and they were searching for the Filipino fishing vessel,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino was referring to the boat that capsized last November 22 due to typhoon Lando.
Chinese fishermen rescued 30 occupants of the sunken boat while 26 others remained missing.
Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Epifanio Panzo said the missing S211 aircraft left Puerto Princesa City in Palawan with another S211 jet at around 8:45 a.m. to conduct a routine maritime patrol at the Spratlys Island.
Panzo said the two jets took off with enough fuel for four hours of flight. He said contact with the missing jet was lost less than two hours after takeoff.
The two aircrafts, he said, were supposed to return to Palawan not later than 12:45 a.m. But he added that only one of the aircrafts returned at around 11:37 a.m.
He said efforts are underway to locate the missing two-seater aircraft.
“They were on a routine maritime patrol...We don’t know what happened, we don’t know if it crashed. We lost contact of it, its missing. We have alerted our Islander aircraft for the conduct of search and rescue operation,” said Panzo.
At least 10 people have been killed since typhoon Mina (international codename: Mitag) began battering the central region over the weekend, before slamming ashore in the northeastern corner late Sunday.
A lingering tropical storm Lando (international name: Hagibis), re-entered the country's waters Monday and was expected to lash Palawan, near the Spratlys, on Tuesday, forecasters said.
Government forecasters also were monitoring a new low pressure area that could develop into a storm over the Pacific Ocean and affect the Philippines in a few days.
The Philippines, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims in the largely uninhabited Spratly islands, which are believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. The islands and atolls also straddle busy sea lanes and are rich fishing grounds. (VR/Sunnex/With AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (November 27, 2007 issue)
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