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PAF trainer jet missing; S211 lost to Typhoon Lando?
Topic Started: Nov 26 2007, 04:31 PM (3,659 Views)
Tora^2
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I just heard of this from DZMM.

Let's pray the crew returns safe & sound

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PAF trainer jet missing

The Philippine Air Force on Monday launched a search mission for a missing trainer jet that was buffeted by tropical storm Lando (international codename Hagibis) after leaving Palawan province earlier in the day.

Col. Epifaño Panzo, PAF spokesman, said two F-211 [sic] jets left Palawan at 8:45 a.m. He said the jets were bound for the Kalayaan Group of Islands.

Panzo said only one of the jets returned at 12:45 p.m. He added that the missing jet carried two pilots.

As of 10 a.m., Lando was spotted by PAGASA's weather satellite at 390 kilometers west northwest of Puerto Princesa City. It was packed with maximum sustained winds of 95 kph and gusts of up to 120 kph. It was moving east northeast at 15 kph.

The storm was forecast to remain in the vicinity of Puerto Princesa City until Tuesday morning. It is expected to move to Oriental Mindoro on Wednesday and to Catanduanes by Thursday morning.

Weather bureau PAGASA hoisted Public Storm Signal No. 2 over the northern part of Palawan and Calamian Group of Islands. Signal No. 1, meanwhile, is up over the rest of Palawan, Cuyo Island, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro and Lubang Island.
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israeli
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PAF jet with 2 on board missing over Kalayaan
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 04:27pm (Mla time) 11/26/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- A Philippine Air Force (PAF) S211 jet, with two pilots on board, has been declared missing after it failed to return to base after a security patrol and search mission over the Kalayaan Islands on Monday, the PAF commanding general said.

The missing aircraft was one of two aircrafts that took of from Antonio Bautista Airbase in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, at 8:45 a.m. Monday to search for a fishing vessel that capsized off the group of islands, which are part of the disputed Spratlys chain in the South China Sea.

But by 12:45 p.m., when their mission should have ended, only one of the two S211 jets returned, said Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino.

Contact with the aircraft was last made at 10 a.m., before it went missing, Tolentino said in a phone interview.

"The aircraft went missing. It was in the area for maritime security operations, and to look for possible survivors of a sunken Filipino fishing boat," he said.

PAF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Epifanio Panzo Jr. said the S211’s fuel capacity allows it to fly for a maximum of four hours. The S211 is a trainer converted into a combat aircraft.

Tolentino could not say if the bad weather brought by tropical storm "Lando" (international codename: Hagibis), which is approaching Palawan, could be a factor in the jet’s going missing.

He said the PAF would seek the help of the Philippine Navy and United States Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, to look for the missing jet and its pilots.
"To secure peace is to prepare for war." - Carl Von Clausewitz
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israeli
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my thoughts and prayers are with the missing S-211 crew. :armysad:

however, i am hoping that the S-211 ditched within the Philippine-controlled area of the Spratly Islands. it would be a more difficult if the PAF plane crashed in the "more hostile" Chinese- and Vietnamese-controlled portions of the island chain. :wow:
"To secure peace is to prepare for war." - Carl Von Clausewitz
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Tora^2
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It will depend on the circumstances behind the loss of the attack jet. It the S211 were flying within our waters on a routine patrol and crashed due to Lando, then as with any crash victims military or civillian, they will be rescued, given medical treatment and returned to their company of origin
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israeli
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i am curious though. why send S-211s to do a security and patrol mission over an area that is hotly contested by various countries? wouldn't other occupants of the Spratlys see such action, despite its humanitarian nature, as an act of aggression because the S-211s have offensive capabilities that could threaten their hold on the islands that they are currently occupying?

also, aren't the S-211s operating beyond their limits? i mean, these S-211s could cover much area but not as large as the gap between the Kalayaan Island Group and Palawan.
"To secure peace is to prepare for war." - Carl Von Clausewitz
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didu
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I hope our pilots are properly equipped with survival kit in case of over open water bailout.

My prayers for their safe recovery.
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Tora^2
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I remember when I had my last Boy Scout excursion after my Elementary graduation where we had a week-long trip to Puerto Princesa. Part of our tour was a visit to Antonio Bautista AB where that ill-fated S211 was based.

When we visited that base (that was 11 years ago), S211s were already based there and were used to fly CAP over the piece of the Spratleys that we claim.

Some of the emergency gear the pilots showed to us include a parachute, lifevest, a flashing emergency beacon and a puch of marking dye.

I just hope the pilots were able to eject. A water landing is very high risk since the air intakes take in a lot of water and cause the aircraft to sink fast. It's also very difficult to debark from a sinking aircraft with all the gear strapped on.
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MSantor
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My prayers go to those mising pilots/crewmen for their safe return as well.

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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seWer Rat
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Incidents such as this is when an all-weather, long-range SAR helicopter is most needed.



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Some of the emergency gear the pilots showed to us include a parachute, lifevest, a flashing emergency beacon and a puch of marking dye.


they don't have a liferaft? the waters off Palawan are definitely teeming with sharks.

I hope the pilots are found soon.
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israeli
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US spy plane, RP ship search for missing air force jet
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:26pm (Mla time) 11/27/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The United States military has sent a spy plane and the Philippine Navy will dispatch a patrol ship and an aircraft to help in the search for two Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots who went missing with their S211 jet over Kalayaan Islands in the disputed Spratlys, officials said.

The P3 Orion have been scouring the waters off Kalayaan since early Monday morning until before midnight, when they were forced to return to the Antonio Bautista Airbase in Puerto Princesa City due to bad weather caused by tropical storm "Lando" (international codename: Hagibis), said Lieutenant Colonel Epifanio Panzo, PAF spokesman.

PAF Chief Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino has also grounded all three remaining S211 jets as SOP (standard operating procedure), Panzo said.

"It did not find anything," Panzo said, adding a Philippine Navy islander aircraft has been placed on standby in case the spy plane finds the missing S211.

The P3 Orion resumed its search when the weather cleared at 10:52 a.m. Tuesday, Panzo said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy will dispatch a patrol ship, the BRP Rizal, to look for the PAF jet, Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan said.

"We also asked the help of local fishermen to provide us with information on the missing jet," Panzo said.

The S211 was declared missing when it failed to return to Puerto Princesa at noon Monday, after a search and security patrol mission in Kalayaan.

"It is an unfortunate incident brought about by the typhoon… The weather was bad but our pilots had to go there to search for a missing Filipino fishing vessel," Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said.

The S211 can fly for a maximum of four hours with its fuel capacity, Panzo said.

Pressed by reporters, Esperon said he was "discounting" the possibility that the S211 was shot down.

The oil-rich Spratlys is being claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Tawian, Brunei, and Malaysia.
"To secure peace is to prepare for war." - Carl Von Clausewitz
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