PAF relief flight skids off Basco airport

Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — An air force cargo plane delivering relief to Basco, Batanes, skidded off the runway Friday afternoon after its nose landing gear detached while landing.

Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said no one was hurt when the front tire of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-295 detached as it was landing at 3 p.m.

In a separate statement late Friday, Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo, spokesperson for the PAF, said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the incident.

READ: Leon-hit Batanes seeks more aid

The cargo plane left Manila on Friday transporting family food packs for the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). Both Castillo and Padilla assured the public that rescue and relief operations in Batanes and all other typhoon-affected areas would “continue by all other means.”

The PAF has seven C-295 aircrafts in its inventory, with the newest unit received by President Marcos at Clark Air Base in Pampanga last year.

Last week, air assets from Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia and Indonesia also flew to the country to help in the government’s humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

In a Facebook post, the office of Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco said that as per the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Basco Management, the airport would be closed until Nov. 3 “for fixed-wing aircrafts.”

On Friday, a team from the OCD Region 2 arrived in Batanes to assess the damage brought by Supertyphoon Leon (international name: Kong-rey) to the province, “particularly on the rehabilitation needs of Batanes and support to affected families,” the governor’s office said.

—NESTOR CORRALES