Week after Bronco plane crash, PAF still hopes pilots alive

CLARK, Pampanga - The Philippine Air Force remains hopeful that the two pilots who were on board the OV-10 Bronco plane that crashed off Palawan last week are still alive.

Air Force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol said the search efforts for the two pilots and the plane wreckage are ongoing since “a lot of things can still happen.”

While more than a week has passed since the mishap, Okol said the pilots -- Maj. Jonathan Ybanez and 1Lt. Abner Trust Nacion -- are still considered “missing.”

“We are hoping [that they survived]. Still, a lot of things can happen,” Okol said in an interview.

Okol noted that in the late 60s, an F-5 jet pilot was declared dead after an air mishap in Kalinga. It turned out that the pilot survived and surfaced months after the incident.

Okol, however, admitted that the fate of the two pilots remain unknown.

“With the advent of technology and everything, what we’re doing is massive information along the shoreline. Western Command is doing that,” he said.

“Of course we are scouring the shallow parts. We might see tell tale signs that will indicate the fate of the pilots.”

The OV-10 Bronco bomber plane crashed off Palawan last June 23 after conducting a proficiency flight. The plane failed to return to the 570th Composite Tactical Wing base in Puerto Princesa.

Okol said a team from the 15th Strike Wing has been activated to look into the incident. Authorities have so far identified three possible crash sites.   

“Hopefully, this week, weather permitting we will see something,” he said.