Pilot, Saudi student survive crash

MANILA, Philippines – A trainor pilot and his Saudi Arabian student escaped death yesterday when their light plane plunged into a ricefield in Plaridel, Bulacan.

Senior Superintendent Allen Bantolo, Bulacaan provincial police director said Capt. Danny Yumol and his student pilot Abdul Moran were rushed to the hospital for body injuries.

The two were on a trainor’s-trainee flight aboard a two-seater Cessna 152 plane with Body No. 8201 of the Delta Flying School that crash-landed at Barangay Lalangan, at about 11:30 a.m. yesterday.

Bantolo said the air mishap occurred shortly after the light plane took off from the airstrip at Barangay Lumang Bayan. “The student pilot and his teacher suffered injuries and were brought to a hospital for treatment,” Bantolo said. He said that the Air Transportation Office (ATO) is now conducting an investigation to determine what caused the mishap.

The training plane was heavily damaged, but its passengers only suffered minor injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.