AFP asks US to help find missing jet

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has turned to the United States military for help in its intensified sea and air search and rescue operations for the missing Philippine Air Force pilots on board an S-211 trainer jet.

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the Philippine Navy’s islander aircraft and vessels are looking for the S-211 jet with tail number 804 that went missing while searching for a fishing boat with 26 crewmembers that sank near Pag-Asa island last week at the height of typhoon “Lando.”

“We have also requested the deployment of P3 Orion, which is a surveillance airplane of the US,” Esperon told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

Esperon immediately ruled out the possibility that the S-211 jet was shot down over the Spratlys.

“It’s not true, in fact the PAF is coordinating with the Chinese in some of the islands in the Spratlys to locate the missing aircraft,” added PAF Public Information Director Col. Epifanio Panzo.

The Chinese are in control of Mischief Reef and other islands in the Spratlys Island Group (SIG), which is being contested by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and  Indonesia.  – Jaime Laude, Rudy Santos