THE bodies of the six crew and passengers of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in Tarlac have been retrieved.
The fatalities were Lieutenant Colonel Rexzon Pasco, instructor pilot; student pilots Majors Jayrold Costantino and Eraño Belen; Master Sergeant Ronnie Reducto, an instructor scanner and student scanners Technical Sergeant Maricar Laygo and Sergeant Leonardo Tandingan.
Their remains arrived at Clark Air Base in the afternoon of June 28, 2021 and were accorded with full military honors, PAF said in a statement.
“The aircrew will be brought to their respective hometowns as requested by their families,” PAF added.
The aircraft is being recovered.
The brand new Black Hawk utility helicopter crashed in Crow Valley in Tarlac while conducting night flight training on June 24, 2021.
PAF said the topography of the site presented a big challenge for the recovery teams and the security teams.
“The uneven and unforgiving terrain coupled with the unpredictable local weather in the area contributed to the difficulty of the retrieval operations,” it said.
The aircraft was among the 11 Black Hawk helicopters delivered recently to the PAF, which procured a total of 16 units.
All Black Hawk utility helicopters have been grounded pending the results of the investigation.
PAF said it coordinated with Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze (PZL) Mielec and Lockheed Martin Global Inc., suppliers of the helicopters, for technical assistance in the investigation of the accident. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)