Two pilots and three other Navy personnel were injured when a helicopter crash-landed during a training and maintenance flight at the Sangley Aerodrome, Cavite on Thursday morning, Dec. 5.
Navy spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos said all their five personnel on board the Naval Helicopter NH432 suffered minor injuries and were taken to the 15th Strike Wing Hospital for medical evaluation.
The chopper, an AgustaWestland AW109 was among the five helicopters purchased by the Philippine Navy as part of its modernization program.
One of them also suffered the same fate a few years back and was already beyond repair.
The Navy chopper that crashlanded on Thursday underwent scheduled maintenance inspection and Alcos said the incident happened while it was on maintenance flight as part of the existing protocol.
“That is a functional maintenance check before we send the aircraft to the operational area so it was during the test, the training and maintenance flight when the aircraft crash landed,” said Alcos.
He said a comprehensive investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident.
“All similar aircraft will temporarily be grounded during the investigation,” said Alcos.
“Rest assured that the Philippine Navy is committed to maintaining high standards of operational safety and will use the findings to improve our procedures moving forward,” he added.