Helicopter crash leaves PNP without air asset

MANILA, Philippines - The aerial capability of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has been crippled after its last air asset – a Robinson Raven 44 helicopter – sustained damage when it crash landed in Kalinga on Wednesday, leaving three policemen injured, a police official said yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Alexis Castillo, officer-in-charge of the PNP’s Air Unit, said the aircraft was the only brand-new one among three Robinson Raven 44s procured in 2010, “with only 350 flying hours on its records.”

The two other Robinson Raven 44s are still entangled in a pending graft case in the Sandiganbayan as they were allegedly second-hand aircraft passed off as new. Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and other respondents, including retired and active police officers, were indicted for the alleged anomaly.

Castillo said the PNP still has three other aircraft but these are set for major repairs.

He said the damaged helicopter remained as of press time at the crash site on Mount Bitulayungan in Tinglayan town, Kalinga because aircraft investigators could not get to the area due to bad weather.

“We have coordinated with the Philippine Air Force but they said they have no capability to sling the chopper. Sling is the term we use in transferring the aircraft with the use of another aircraft,” he told The STAR.

The only option left, he said, is to dismantle the damaged aircraft, place it on a makeshift carriage and have it towed by a carabao to the nearest police station, which is about five kilometers away or about seven hours’ walk. – With Charlie Lagasca