Hueys cleared for takeoff despite Ecija crash

Despite the crash of one of its aging Huey helicopters Tuesday, the Air Force is not grounding its fleet of Vietnam War-vintage choppers.

Col. Charles Hotchkiss, deputy commander of the Air Force’s 600th Air Wing based at Clark Field in Pampanga, said that although investigators were still determining what went wrong at Mt. Williams in San Jose City the other day, the crash was apparently not caused by mechanical failure.

"The Hueys deployed for various operations throughout the country will remain operational, although the Air Safety Office would continue its probe of the crash," he said.

Officials said the Huey crashlanded after being buffeted by strong winds. The chopper spun out of control and was forced down on the slope of Mt. Williams.

Seven of the nine people aboard — four TV journalists from ABS-CBN and GMA-7, the chopper’s two pilots and an

Army officer — were hurt. Two other helicopter crewmen escaped injuries.

The journalists were en route to cover the exhumation of the body of a Protestant pastor who was allegedly executed by communist New People’s Army rebels in the area and buried in a suspected mass grave.

GMA reporter Jiggy Manicad said their helicopter attempted but failed to land on a mountain clearing because of strong winds.

The pilots, 1Lt. Paul Infante and co-pilot 2Lt. Melvin Banua, decided to fly low to allow those aboard to jump out, but a gust caused the chopper to spin five times and forced it down near a ravine, he said.

The helicopter landed on its belly and bent its tail.

The Huey is the workhorse of the Philippine military. It does a variety of missions because of its ability to deliver personnel and cargo over rough terrain.

All of the Hueys were secondhand donations by the United States. Because of lack of funding, the Philippine military has only a few dozen Hueys in service and has to make do with aging obsolete equipment.

In the mid-1990s the government embarked on an ambitious program to modernize the armed forces but shelved the plan due to lack of money.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the versatile, rugged chopper became a symbol of US combat forces in Vietnam. Over the years various updated and modified variants were introduced.

Most were equip-ped with machine guns, rockets and grenade launchers. Others were fitted with night fighting gear and anti-tank missiles.

As part of the US military assistance to the Philippines, five Hueys were delivered to the Armed Forces of the Philippines last year. Three more are expected to be delivered by March.