Presidential Chopper, Malacanang Execs Missing in Baguio

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A Bel 142 helicopter carrying several Malacanang executives were reported missing after taking off from Baguio City's Loakan airport. The helicopter took off from at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr 7, for a 30-minute flight to Banawe as advance party for Mrs. Arroyo. President Arroyo who is spending her Holy Week in Baguio City was scheduled to inspect the Halsema Highway on April 8, Wednesday. Passengers of the missing helicopter were Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia, Pres. Arroyo’s senior military aide Brig. Gen. Carlos Clet, Appointments Secretary Malou Frostrom and two pilots.

Recent Updates: 04/08 - Helicopter is confirmed to have crashed causing death; US sends helicopter to help in rescue efforts. See regular updates in Google News.

4 comments:

perchia April 8, 2009 at 4:04 PM: This is a tragedy. And to think, this happened during Holy Week. What would the families of those who crashed be feeling right now?

The scary thing about it was how close the President could have been in the accident. This was the advance party for the president. It would be chaos for our hardened country if such a tragedy happened to the President herself.
Baguio Born April 8, 2009 at 6:15 PM: Hi. I was searching for "bel 142 helicopter" when I stumbled across this blog. Great job! My father is an Igorot, so that makes me 1/2 Igorot. Will visit more often.
Anonymous April 8, 2009 at 6:24 PM: Had the president been in the crash, madadagdagan pa ang problema ng ating bayang magiliw! Buti na lang hindi.
Anonymous April 11, 2009 at 11:02 AM: CONDOLENCES to the families suffering from the loss of a loved one. It is particularly hard especially because it's Holy Week.