Air Force helicopter crashes in Agusan

MANILA, Philippines - An Air Force Huey helicopter tasked to deliver military supplies crashed in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte yesterday morning, the Army said.

Maj. Eugenio Osias IV, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the seven people on board the aircraft survived and only sustained minor injuries.

Osias said the UH-1H helicopter of the Air Force Tactical Advance Command Post crashed in Sitio Zapanta, Barangay Bangayan in Kitcharao town at around 10:30 a.m.

The names of the seven people who figured in the crash were withheld pending notification of their relatives.

Osias, however, said the seven consisted of a pilot, a co-pilot, two crewmembers, an Army captain and two passengers, who are all in stable condition.

“This PAF (Philippine Air Force) aircraft crashed while on its mission to airlift a wounded soldier for immediate medical treatment and to deliver additional provisions to operating troops in the area,” Osias said.

The cause of the crash is still unknown. The Air Force Tactical Operations Group (TOG)-10 is now probing the incident.

“We are saddened that one of our reliable assets in the conduct of our operations to expedite the Filipino people’s fight against insurgency crashed this morning,” said 4th ID commander Maj. Gen. Victor Felix.