Search for 2 missing pilots abandoned

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)has ended the search for two missing Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots whose plane crashed off Mariveles, Bataan, last week.

But while the surface or sea search was terminated Wednesday, the notice to mariners issued by the Coast Guard requesting all passing vessels in the area to keep an eye out for possible survivors remained in place and would still be reissued every day, said PCG spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente.

“There’s no sign of the two pilots and no sign of the plane. It’s been a long while that they haven’t been located. There’s little chance that something will be seen on the sea [by rescue planes] so we’re relying on dissemination of information to coastal barangays (villages) and coordination with fishermen,” he told reporters.

Ricafrente said the PCG had informed the Armed Forces of its decision to terminate the search. He said they had no idea if the AFP had also ended its own search.

The PAF training craft, an SF-260 TP Warrior plane, was on a proficiency flight from Danilo Atienza Air Base in Sangley Point, Cavite, to Corregidor when it crashed around dawn last Friday.

The AFP identified the missing pilots as Maj. Neil Tumaneng and Lt. Michael Arugay.

A report said that fishermen from Bataan had found a severed human foot in the vicinity of the crash site on Fortune Isle, a rocky islet near Mariveles. Other fishermen also turned over a fuel tip tank, broken helmet and a plane seat believed to have come from the crashed aircraft. Jerome Aning