MANILA - The Armed Forces of the Philippines has released exclusive video of the crash of a brand-new Philippine Air Force Sokol helicopter in Marawi City Thursday. The video showed the helicopter taking off and flying a few meters inside the 103rd Infantry Brigade headquarters at Camp Ranao before stalling and crashing. The crash happened within 30 seconds after lift-off. The utility helicopter was carrying 4th Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Ricardo Visaya, 4th Infantry Division Inspector-General Col. Alexander Macario, and at least 10 other people. The Sokol is one of eight new helicopters bought by the Department of National Defense (DND) from Polish company PZL Swidnik for P2.8 billion. The 7 other Sokol choppers have been grounded pending the results of the investigation. Visaya and Macario escaped unharmed while the two injured victims were identified as helicopter crew member Staff Sgt. Darius Valdez and a boy, Santiago Savedra, who was playing on the ground when he was hit by debris from the crash, a police report said.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 07:47:01 +0000
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