PAF chopper breaks down in Davao

DAVAO CITY — Engine trouble forced a Philippine Air Force attack helicopter to make an emergency landing on a beach in Barangay Matina here Saturday just hours after a PAF plane crashed off Zamboanga City also due to engine trouble, the military reported.

The pilots and a crew of the MG-520 attack helicopter were unhurt.

The chopper was headed for Air Force Tactical Operation Group’s base at Davao International Airport from the Awang, Maguindanao, headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, when it partially lost engine power.

Pilots Capt. Ariel Ariola and Dayno Dinopol, accompanied by crew chief Sgt. Tolitz Gomez, tried to bring it down immediately but lack of engine power forced them to make a hard landing at a beach on Isla Suerte. The helicopter was not damaged.

Air Force mechanics were immediately dispatched to secure the helicopter and fix the problem, which they did after a few hours. They did not say what went wrong.

"The chopper is now in good running condition. It just so happened that the pilots had to make the necessary landing to prevent an accident," Maj. Bruce Tolentino, Air Force Tactical Operation Group operations officer, said.

Crashes — often blamed for lack of funds needed for long-overdue repairs — hound the decrepit Air Force now and then.

Also last Saturday, a single-engine SF260 Marchetti reconnaisance-bomber crashed off Little Sta. Cruz island near Zamboanga City while searching for a ship believed to be carrying smuggled contraband. The plane’s two pilots bailed out and were unhurt.

In May, three Filipino airmen were injured when an MG-520 gunship crashed in Clark Field, Pampanga, during joint military exercises with US aircraft. The accident forced the PAF to ground its MG-520 fleet for the duration of the joint exercises, which ended in July.

Less than a week later, a PAF F-5 jet fighter crashed into an empty schoolhouse in the nearby town of Mabalacat, also in Pampanga, after joint maneuvers with US aircraft. The pilot was killed and 16 people on the ground were injured.