PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – An airplane crashed off the coast of Sitio Landing, Barangay New Agutaya in the northern Palawan town of San Vicente on Sunday afternoon.
The light aircraft, which was chartered to transport live fish cargo to Sangley Point, Cavite, had just taken off from the nearby San Vicente Airport when the accident happened around 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
The two pilots, who were reported to be of Indian nationality, escaped the tragedy.
They were rescued around 10 meters from the Long Beach shoreline by a team of Rescue 165 first responders and elements of the Philippine Marines-Marine Battalion Landing Team-12 (MBLT-12).
Lieutenant Colonel Bill Pasia, commanding officer of the MBLT-12, said the victims were immediately brought to the rural health unit (RHU) of San Vicente.
“The two pilots were saved and were immediately brought to the RHU for injury treatment. They suffered minor injuries but are now doing fine. I am still waiting for my men to send me the whole report,” he said.
San Vicente is a first class municipality located 122.5 kilometers from Puerto Princesa City.