Navy rescue helicopter beyond repair

MASBATE, Philippines – A Philippine Navy (PN) Bolkow helicopter used in the search for the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo that was forced to make a “precautionary landing” into waters off Donsol, Sorsogon on Tuesday has been found to be beyond repair and will just be chopped into pieces, a senior military commander said yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Romeo Calizo, 9th Infantry Division commander, disclosed this here yesterday, saying that Navy fleet commander Rear Admiral Jose Luis Alano was in the area to supervise the “dismembering” of the helicopter.

Alano is the incumbent Navy fleet commander.

The helicopter which had five persons onboard – two pilots, two crewmembers and a newspaper photographer – was scouring the shorelines of Donsol Tuesday morning searching for Robredo and his two pilots when it landed in the sea.

This incident happened hours after Robredo’s body was retrieved by Navy technical divers from the wreckage of the Piper Seneca plane that was to take him to Naga City last Saturday.

Navy authorities initially downplayed the air mishap as a simple case of precautionary landing by the helicopter’s pilots due to minor engine trouble.

But photographs of the downed helicopter showed that it was submerged in seawater about a meter deep.