Probers look at 3 possible causes of PNP chopper crash

GROUNDED Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar inspects the Bell 429 helicopter that crashed in Laguna province on Thursday— MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Probers looking into the crash of the Philippine National Police helicopter on March 5 are looking into three aspects of the mishap that injured PNP chief Archie Gamboa and seven other police officials.

The special task group looking into the crash is looking at the helicopter’s air worthiness, possible pilot error and the site in San Pedro City that was chosen as the chopper’s landing area, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the group’s lead investigator, said in an interview over dzBB on Sunday.

He said the helicopter debris had all been collected, documented and moved to the PNP Special Action Force air unit hangar for further examination but probers have yet to send the helicopter’s data collection unit to the helicopter’s manufacturer, Bell Textron, in Fort Worth, Texas.

The PNP grounded all the service’s six helicopters — four Airbus H125s and two Robinson R44 trainers — on the day of the crash pending the result of Eleazar’s investigation.

Eleazar said investigators are also speaking with eye witnesses and the statements of the crash casualties to come to a conclusion at the soonest time.

“There are aircraft investigations [that] are concluded after years or months because there are no eyewitnesses or survivors but in this particular incident we can hasten the investigation although we need to make it thorough,” he noted.

He pointed out that “this is an honest to goodness investigation because we want a better and safer utilization of our assets in the future.”

According to Eleazar the PNP’s air unit is relatively new so a thorough probe would give the assurance that police helicopters are safe to fly.