Pilot, student hurt in Mindoro plane crash 


BATANGAS CITY – A pilot and his student were slightly hurt when a trainer aircraft owned by a private flying school crashed in the waters of Calapan Bay in the City of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro on Tuesday, police said.

The aircraft, owned by Sapphire International Aviation Academy based in Sucat, Paranaque City, went down off the coast of the village of Lazareto at 9:50 a.m., according to Superintendent Jonathan Paguio, Calapan City police chief.

He said rescuers rushed the pilot, identified as Angelo Serna, and his student pilot, Mark Mendoza, to Maria Estrella Hospital in downtown area of the city.

Paguio said the pilot and the student survived with only minor injuries.

He said personnel from the Philippine National Police-Maritime unit in the city and from the Philippine Coast Guard were now conducting retrieval operations and are investigating the cause of the crash.

City of Calapan Mayor Arnan Panaligan said the flying school’s branch in the city would be suspended from operation. He said he would also ask the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines to ground the trainer planes of Sapphire and evaluate the airworthiness of their planes. CDG

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