PAF pilots still missing, planes grounded

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has grounded its seven remaining SF-260 aircraft after one of the trainer planes crashed off Bataan last Friday.

The PAF is working with the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard on a sea search for the two missing pilots and the plane’s wreckage.

“Yes, we grounded the SF-260 for precautionary measures. (They are) grounded pending an investigation of the accident,” said Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Miguel Okol.

He said assumptions on the cause of the crash were all speculation at this time since the plane had no contact with the control tower after taking off from Sangley Point, Cavite, early Friday on a training flight.

A little debris had been found off Cavite, Okol said, and there were “very few corroborated eyewitness” accounts.

“It’s all speculation. Some people are just guessing (about the crash). Maybe they just want to land in the papers or on TV,” Okol said.

He said the search had been narrowed to an area one nautical mile by 1.2 nautical miles southwest of La Monja island near Corregidor.

He said the Air Force had contracted the services of a seabed mapping ship that uses side sonar to map the suspected wreck site.

“To date there has been no confirmation of the actual wreck site save for a few pieces of debris found last Friday,” said Okol, who denied that remains had been recovered.

The SF-260 two-seater aircraft does not have ejection seats, according to the Air Force spokesperson.

This means that in case of emergency, the pilots have to get out of the aircraft manually.

“That’s a possibility, that they manually bailed out,” said Okol, who added that the pilots were wearing parachutes that could be opened at low altitude.