FA-50 pilots’ bodies brought down to CDO
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 6 March) — The bodies of the two Philippine Air Force pilots of the downed F-50 jet were brought down from Mt. Kalatungan in Bukidnon by a small group of soldiers, volunteers and forest guards and were taken to this city Wednesday night.
Col. Antonio Duluan Jr., commander of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade, told MindaNews the cadavers of the pilots carried in black body bags reached the highway in Barangay Miarayon in the municipality of Talakag in Bukidnon around 10 p.m. and brought to a funeral parlor in Cagayan de Oro before midnight Wednesday.
“In bringing down the remains, the soldiers and volunteers braved the muddy trails and bad weather,” Duluan said.
The Philippine National Police Region 10 Community Affairs and Development Office identified the two pilots of the F-50 jet plane that went missing last Tuesday morning as Maj. Jude Salang-oy and 1Lt. AJ Dadulla, who hails from Barangay Alae, Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon.
Lt. Col. Colonel Salvacion Evangelista, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Eastern Mindanao Command, said that the wreckage of the FA-50 and the cadavers were found in a mountainous part of Barangay Miarayon Wednesday morning.
Duluan said the crash site was near the peak of Mt. Kalatungan, the country’s fifth highest mountain with an elevation of the 2,880 meters above sea level. It is situated south of the nearby Mt. Kitanglad Mountain Range, which hosts the country’s second highest peak (Mt. Dulang-dulang).
“The soldiers of the 1st Special Forces Battalion reported that the fuselage remains intact but without its wings. The plane also slid down from the mountain after it crashed,” he said.
Duluan said the soldiers found the badly burned bodies of the pilots outside the plane fuselage.
He said the soldiers also found one of the two 500-pound bombs that the ill-fated aircraft carried for tactical operation.
“We have to detonate the bomb on site and continue looking for the other missing bomb,” Duluan said.
Maj. Gen. Michele Anayron, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said they asked for an air strike to support troops battling a band of 70 New People’s Army rebels near Cabanglasan town in Bukidnon dawn on Tuesday.
After taking off from the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, the ill-fated aircraft reportedly lost communications with another FA-50 jet “minutes before reaching the target area.”
Nilo Onduran, Barangay Captain of San Miguel in Talakag town, said they were roused from their sleep in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday and heard a loud explosion and a big ball of fire on top of Mt. Kalatungan. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
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