PAF: Trainer plane in Bataan crash finally found after 4 months

Authorities have recovered the wreckage of the SF-260 trainer plane that crashed into the sea off Mariveles town in Bataan in May, a military spokesman said. Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol said the wreckage was found Saturday morning through the combined efforts of the Air Force, Navy and volunteer technical groups. The plane was on the seabed at a depth of about 80 feet. “Divers initially secured the wreckage with ropes before the Philippine Navy’s AS71 vessel pulled it up to the surface,” said Okol, referring to the Navy’s auxiliary ship BRP Mangyan. The spokesperson added that Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalito dela Cruz has “ordered the immediate conduct of the investigation [on the crash] upon receipt and identification of the aircraft’s wreckage.” The plane took off from an Air Force facility in Sangley, Cavite for a proficiency training on May 18. It then lost communication with the Air Force controller and crashed for still unknown reasons. The body of pilot Maj. Neil Tumaneng was recovered by a fishing boat on August 19 near La Monja island between Mariveles and Corregidor Island. Okol said that the search is continuing forTumaneng's copilot. “The 15th Strike Wing, the PAF unit primarily responsible for coordinating the search and retrieval operations, will continue searching for 1Lt. Michael Arugay, whose body was not found with the wreckage,” he said. — BM, GMA News