TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija- A pilot and a student pilot were injured when a two-seater Cessna training plane crash landed on a rice field in Barangay Homestead 2, this town, at around 7:30 a.m. Monday.
Police Lt. Col. Alexie Desamito, Talavera police chief, identified the plane’s occupants as Boni Sorgon, 31, flight instructor, of Brgy. Libsong, Lingayen, Pangasinan; and Aria Thalia Zeth Limpin, student pilot, of Bayan Luma 5, Cavite.
Desamito disclosed that the ill-fated plane owned by Flyfast Aviation School in Lingayen, Pangasinan, was heading for a trip to Cabanatuan City when the plane encountered an engine trouble.
Responding police and rescuers brought the victims to Talavera General Hospital.
In an interview, farmer Rommel Torejas, 26, who personally witnessed the incident said “narinig ko po parang pumupugak ‘yung engine, tapos umikot muna ng dalawang beses sa himpapawid tapos dahan-dahang bumaba. Bumaliktad na lang po ‘yung eroplano nung nakababa na dahil na lang siguro sa kapal ng putik”.
Aviation personnel from the Philippine Army secured the area, preventing farmers from getting closer to the ill-fated aircraft due to gas leaking from the engine. (Ariel P. Avendaño)