Crop duster crashes

TAGUM CITY–A light plane used for spraying pesticides in banana plantations has crashed in the boundary of this city and Maco, Compostela Valley, on Friday.

The crop duster (RP-R318) rested upside down on the water of Hijo River after it went down between Barangay Apokon, Tagum, and in Hijo village, Maco, around 7 a.m.

The plane was flying over a community in Hijo village when it suddenly nose-dived and plummeted into the river, said Geron Ampong, a village watchman.

Ampong said the pilot, identified as Captain Salang, was pulled out of the aircraft, apparently unhurt.

The white and red crop duster owned by the Philippine Agricultural Aviation Corp. was apparently on its way to conduct spraying runs in one of the vast banana plantations in Maco when the mishap happened.

Accidents involving light planes are common in Southern Mindanao, which has more than 40,000 hectares of banana plantations. Frinston L. Lim, Inquirer Mindanao