Portable sonar searching for Air Force OV-10 bomber

MANILA, Philippines - A portable sonar is searching for the Air Force OV-10 bomber that went missing after plunging into the sea off the coast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan Sunday night.

Commodore Joseph Rustom Peña, Naval Forces West (Navforwest) commander, said   the portable sonar is the same type of underwater detection gadget used in locating the Seneca Piper plane that carried Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo that crashed into  Masbate Bay in August last year.

“We have already established the general area near Honda Bay where the OV-10 could have gone down and we are now using the portable sonar provided by the Air Force in our continuing underwater search,” he said.

Air Force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol  identified the missing pilots as as Maj. Jonathan Ybanez of Davao City and 1Lt. Abner Trust Nacion of Cavite City.

“Their fate remains unknown as of the moment and are listed as missing. The search will continue until the wreckage is found and the fate of the two officers known,” he said.

Two Navy ships and a Coast Guard vessel are scouring the 1,000 to 3,000 feet deep bay off the coast of Barangay Bancao-Bancao.

Two Navy planes and an Air Force helicopter have widened their search in the hope of rescuing the plane’s two pilots.

Several teams of Air Force and  Navy search and rescue personnel are scouring the coastal areas in nearby islets within Honda Bay for the two pilots.

1Lt. Cheryl Tindog, Western Command (Wescom) spokesperson, said Navy and Coast Guard search and rescue teams have already recovered the plane’s cargo bay door along with the nose part. 

“All the recovered debris were turned over and are now under the custody of PAF’s 570th Composite Tactical Wing based in Puerto Princesa City,” she said.

Coast Guard and Navy search and rescue teams have so far failed to find the OV-10 in the waters off Puerto Princesa.

In a phone interview yesterday, Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, Coast Guard Palawan district commander, said the underwater search divers did not find the aircraft’s fuselage   or the pilots yesterday morning.

“So far, the searches had yielded negative results, even in looking for more debris,” he said. “Later in the afternoon, there will be another underwater search.”

Many questions will be answered if they find the plane, Evangelista said.

It was learned that the underwater searches were being conducted in the waters around the spot where the debris from the OV-10 were found last Monday. 

The Coast Guard’s BRP Romblon and the small vessel DF 332 are participating in the joint search and rescue operations with the Navy’s AS-71 and PG 383.

The  OV-10 took off from Puerto Princesa City airport  with another OV-10 bomber   at about 6:37 p.m. Sunday for the pilots’ night-flying proficiency training.

Less than an hour later, the two planes were monitored to be executing landing procedures when the bomber lost contact with control tower. The other plane landed safely.

In line with standard operating procedures, all OV-10 Broncos have been grounded pending results of the investigation. – With Rainier Allan Ronda