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20-08-2010
The chopper crash and the eventual death of the two Navy aviators raised
anew the issue of expediting the modernization program in the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP), amid the report that the helicopter was acquired
by the Navy in 1975.
Marines Lt. Colonel Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman, said the bodies of Navy
Lt. Junior Grade Jayrald C. Tamayo and Lt. Senior Grade Tristan Joseph
Corpuz were discovered 14 minutes apart both at the vicinity of the Santa
Cruz island located off Zamboanga City.
“The bodies of the two missing Naval aviators have been found, one after the
other at 7:11 a.m. and 7:25 a.m. on Thursday,” said Arevalo.
Arevalo said it was the body of Tamayo which was first discovered floating
two nautical miles west off Little Santa Cruz Island while that of Corpus
350 yards off Great Santa Cruz Island.
The official said it was the members of the elite Navy SEAL (Sea, Air Land)
teams which discovered the cadavers after two days of scouring the vicinity
since the Bolkov helicopter crashed at 11 a.m. last Tuesday in the area.
The chopper was taken out from the 80-foot deep water near Santa Cruz Island
on Wednesday but the two pilots were not there, prompting Navy officials to
believe that they are still alive.
"The Philippine Navy was hoping to find the aviators alive, owing to the
indications that they were able to bolt out of the cockpit and their
military pilot training for stability and immediate action for similar
incident,” Arevalo said earlier in an statement.
It was recalled that the chopper crashed during a documentation mission of a
military exercises in the area.
Three of the passengers were rescued after
the incident.
But all the hopes that the two pilots were able to extricate
themselves and were just floating in the seas were shattered with the
discovery of their cadavers.
“The Navy mourns for this great loss of two distinguished Naval aviators who
have participated in many combat missions and search and rescue operations
until the air mishap,” said Arevalo.
“The efforts now shift from search and rescue mode to administrative—the
determination of the cause of the crash and the processing of entitlements
of the deceased pilots and their next kin follow,” he added.
But for Arevalo, the incident is more of the need to concentrate on the
capability to upgrade of the Navy through acquisition of modern sea and air
assets that they have been using in military operations and search and
rescue missions.
The official confirmed that the Bolkov helicopter that crashed was already
35 years old, having acquired from Germany in 1975.