Four-seater plane crashlands in Batangas

A single engine, four-seater plane with three passengers crashlanded in an open field near the highway in Tanauan, Batangas yesterday afternoon after experiencing engine trouble.

Cheerokee Piper, with registry number RPC-729, took off from the Catiklan airport bound for Clark Alternate International Airport in Pampanga. But the pilot, Capt. Nick Gitsis, a German national, radioed the Manila control tower at 3:45 p.m. that he would land the plane in an open field near the Tanauan highway.

Philippine Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jose Reyes dispatched one Huey helicopter to rescue the passengers. The two passengers, identified as Ron Miller, an American, and Marichu Mambong, a Filipina. They were brought to the Villamor Air Base by the Huey helicopter while the pilot remained on site to secure the plane. — Rudy Santos, Jaime Laude