EDITORIAL – Another ‘widow maker’?

There has been no accident for many months involving the so-called "widow maker" of the Philippine Air Force, the S-211 trainer jet. Yesterday, however, another PAF trainer plane crashed, killing its two pilots and a civilian on the ground and injuring at least 10 workers.

The Marchetti SF-260 had taken off from Sangley Point in Cavite, home of the PAF’s 15th Strike Wing, yesterday morning. PAF officials said the pilots – 1Lt. Ramos Vincent Ong and 1Lt. Delfin Francisco – were conducting a "proficiency flight" when the engine conked out over Sto. Tomas town in Batangas. The plane quickly lost altitude, crashing into the roof of Ebiden Philippines Inc., a computer company inside the compound of the First Philippine Industrial Park in Barangay Sta. Ignacia. The plane exploded on impact, starting a fire in the Ebiden plant, which is a subsidiary of a Japanese-owned company manufacturing computer parts. A worker died while nine others were rushed to a hospital nearby, one of them for second-degree burns. The two pilots were charred. One of them was scheduled to be married in the United States soon.

Officials of the Air Transportation Office said the plane was outside its flying zone but the pilots had not reported any trouble. The PAF reportedly has 18 of the Italian-made turbo-prop trainer aircraft, which are also used as attack planes. ATO officials said six such planes have crashed.

That figure is not as bad as the crash record of the S-211, but it’s worrisome enough. What is it about these Italian-made trainer aircraft that makes them so risky to fly? The Air Force must find out before the SF-260 claims more lives. And the government must once again review the airworthiness of all aircraft being flown by PAF pilots. If the government can’t give military pilots enough aircraft to perform their tasks, it should at least make sure the planes and helicopters available to them are airworthy.