SEAIR head, pal survive chopper crash

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The chairman of the South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) and a fellow German survived a helicopter crash last Tuesday afternoon after their aircraft hit a high-tension wire in Capas, Tarlac.

Lawyer Bernard Bandonell, SEAIR’s corporate communications head, confirmed that SEAIR chairman Iren Dornier and his friend, Willy Blosch, a guest of the company, were involved in the mishap.

The two reportedly left the SEAIR runway here at about 4:51 p.m. for a "local flight" on board an Allouette SE-30 three-seater chopper, and they were expected to be back in 30 minutes, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) authorities said.

SPO2 Arsenio Presto, Capas police chief, however, said the helicopter hit a high-tension wire of the Tarlac Electric Cooperative and crashed into the O’Donnell River in Barangay Bueno.

In a statement, SEAIR said the chopper was privately owned and was temporarily housed at the company’s headquarters here.

"Thus, this helicopter (did) not belong to our airline and we (did) not use it for commercial operations," it added.

SEAIR employees initially declined any interviews, but one of them confirmed reports that Dornier and Blosch survived the crash almost unscathed but were brought to the Angeles University Medical Center in Pampanga for examination.

DMIA authorities said the helicopter, which was piloted by Dornier, was apparently out for either a leisure or test flight.

DMIA records showed that the helicopter took off from the SEAIR runway here at about 4:5l p.m. last Tuesday, but no record of any call for help was logged.

The SEAIR office here reported the crash to the DMIA at about 6:08 p.m. of the same day.

Presto said Dornier and Blosch were able to extricate themselves out of the crashed chopper. They then reported the incident to a detachment of the Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion a few kilometers away.

In its statement, SEAIR said the chopper "was forced to make a precautionary landing" due to "change of weather into hazy visibility."

Late Tuesday night, SEAIR dispatched to the crash site a huge truck to retrieve the crashed chopper which was brought here. — With Benjie Villa and Ric Sapnu

SEAIR is one of the major aviation investors at Clark Field where it located in 1999. It offers chartered flights to Manila, Boracay and other tourism destinations in the country.