Police unable to lift chopper from crash site

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet  â€“ Salvage operations of the damaged police Robinson 44 four-seater helicopter that crash landed on Wednesday atop a mountain in remote Tinglayan town in Kalinga have  failed.

 

Investigators from the air units of the Special Action Force and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines arrived in Kalinga Friday morning to probe and bring the “air asset” to safety and to repair the same failed to airlift the chopper.

 

Kalinga police director Sr. Supt. Froilan Perez said the Huey (UH1H) helicopter of the Philippine Air Force was unable to lift the damaged chopper.

 

Carabaos and men were also unable to  bring down the chopper from a very high elevation in barangay Bitalayongan.

 

Senior Superintendent Oliver Enmodias, chief of the operations branch of the Cordillera regional police command,  said the helicopter’s pilot – Chief Inspector Dexter Vitug and   passenger Police Officer 3 Jude Duque escaped harm and were discharged from the Kalinga provincial hospital Wednesday afternoon, several hours after the chopper they were riding met turbulent winds and crash landed.

 

The police officers, who were rushed by Philippine Air Force choppers to the hospital, were part of a government contingent which raided at least four marijuana plantations in the hinterland village netting at least P82-million worth of the illegal substance.  The police officers suffered minor injuries from the crash.

 

Perez added that they are studying how the helicopter  will be chopped into pieces for easier transport downhill.

 

Insurance investigators from Singapore are also set to arrive in Kalinga this afternoon to probe  the  chopper's crash. - Artemio A. Dumlao