2 hurt as plane falls into sea during training flight

OFFSHORE RESCUE Crash and fire rescue teams rush to San Fernando City in La Union after a training plane accident leaves the pilot and student pilot with minor injuries. —photo from PCG Coast Guard District North Western Luzon

MANILA, Philippines — A pilot and his passenger were injured on Tuesday after their training aircraft skidded on the runway and flipped over after it fell into the waters off San Fernando, La Union province.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), its San Fernando Tower received an alert from a Cessna 172 Skyhawk plane, with body number RP-C6923, declaring an emergency failure at 8:23 a.m.

“The four-seater aircraft ditched approximately 0.5 nautical miles (0.9 kilometers) abeam the threshold of Runway 01, ending up on the shoreline of Barangay Canaoay, with its engine cowling missing,” the CAAP said in a statement.

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The plane operated by Leading Edge International Aviation Academy Inc., based in Taguig City, was conducting a second touch-and-go landing (TGL) at San Fernando Airport when the accident happened. A TGL is a common maneuver to learn when flying a fixed-wing aircraft and involves landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a complete stop.

The flight instructor and student pilot on board were brought to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.

Crash and fire rescue teams rushed to the site while the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed two 25-meter oil spill booms to control a possible oil leak.

The CAAP’s Aircraft Accident and Inquiry Investigation Board has sent an investigator to determine the cause of the accident.