Witnesses on Wednesday recalled that the ill-fated Philippine Air Force (PAF) Super Huey helicopter was already burning before it crashed in Barangay Sabud, Loreto town, Agusan del Sur.
Delmar Jay-ar Bantuasan II, barangay secretary of Sabud, told the Inquirer that many villagers saw the chopper’s tail section on fire prior to the crash.
‘Yes, we saw the chopper’s tail billowing smoke as it tried to maneuver before it fell,’ Bantuasan added.
The helicopter had flown from Davao City and was en route to Butuan City as part of a four-aircraft mission conducting rapid disaster assessments over the Caraga region. It lost communication with the rest of the flight and was later found crashed.
Bantuasan said the villagers first noticed the helicopter around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, flying low and circling repeatedly ‘as if trying to maneuver to land.’
The crash site is roughly a kilometer from the village center. He added that the three other aircraft circled the area but did not land due to the lack of a safe, open space.
Bantuasan and his sister reached the wreckage about two hours after the crash, delaying their approach out of fear of a possible explosion.
The PAF explained that the downed Super Huey was a refurbished helicopter acquired from the United States in 2011, operated by two pilots and four crew members from the PAF’s Search and Rescue Group, the unit responsible for first response in calamity relief missions