The bodies of two men were found late Saturday afternoon on the wreckage of a helicopter which went missing during a rescue mission to Quezon province.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Operations and Rescue Coordinating Center identified the fatalities in the crash as Capt. Miguel C. Logronio and aircraft mechanic Engr. Jay Gregorio.
CAAP officials said the missing helicopter was located by the Air Force 505th search and rescue group as early as Tuesday but due to bad weather conditions it was only on Saturday at around 3:30 p.m. that civilian and military volunteers were able to reach the crash site at Sitio Tambo, Barangay Umiray, in General Nakar town, Quezon Province.
READ: Debris from missing chopper found in Quezon
The crashed MacroAsia helicopter (RP-C2688) was on a mission to rescue stranded construction and engineering personnel at the Sumag diversion tunnel in Quezon province when it went missing on Aug. 22. It left the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System compound in Norzagaray, Bulacan, at noon Tuesday and was supposed to have reached Quezon in 20 minutes.
Initially rescue teams from the Army and civilian militia had to go on foot to reach the crash site because of the bad weather conditions as well as the thick vegetation.
On Saturday a helicopter, piloted by Jojo Consunji, was able to penetrate the crash site and drop two rescue workers near the wreckage. The rescue workers found the bodies of Logronio and Gregorio inside the crashed helicopter.
CAAP officials said that the retrieval of the bodies and recovery operations would resume on Sunday morning.