'Training aircraft crashes in Arayat riceland; 2 hurt

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines  –  A training aircraft crash-landed and flipped on a rice field in Arayat, Pampanga on Saturday, causing injuries to the instructor pilot and student.

In a report to Central Luzon police chief Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez, investigators said the aircraft, owned by Omni Aviation Corp., attempted an emergency landing at 2:29 p.m. in Barangay San Antonio.

The student pilot and his instructor allegedly felt excessive vibration in the aircraft, forcing them to attempt an emergency landing on the rice field, probers said.

Initial investigation showed that the trainer plane struck a paddy dike, causing it to flip over and land belly up.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center received multiple messages from the emergency locator transmitter of the Cessna plane.

Rescue responders brought the student pilot and his instructor to the Medical City inside the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga for treatment.