Search on for two pilots of ill-fated Air Force trainer plane

(Updated 3:15 p.m.) Search and rescue operations are ongoing for the two pilots of a Philippine Air Force trainer aircraft that crashed before noon Friday in the vicinity of Bataan province, officials said.   Earlier in the day, Coast Guard officials said they have deployed personnel to an area near Mariveles town where the SF-260 training craft (No. 716) was believed to have crashed, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported.

 

Vice Admiral Edmund Tan, Coast Guard commandant, cited initial information indicating a pilot and a copilot were aboard the plane when it took off from Sangley in Cavite province. For his part, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command spokesman Capt. Aurelio Kigis said the plane departed Sangley at 6:52 a.m. for a proficiency flight to Corregidor in Bataan. It was reported missing after it failed to return on time.