THE bodies of the two Philippine Air Force pilots of the downed FA-50 jet were brought down from the 2,880-meter-high Mount Kalatungan in Bukidnon by a small army of soldiers, volunteers, and forest guards. They were taken to Cagayan de Oro City Wednesday night.
Colonel Antonio Duluan Jr, commander of the Army 403rd Infantry said the cadavers of the pilots were carried in black body bags reached the highway in Barangay Miarayon in Talakag town at about 10 pm and brought to a funeral parlor in Cagayan de Oro before midnight Wednesday.
“In bringing down the remains, the soldiers and volunteers braved the muddy trails and bad weather,” Duluan said.
The Philippine National Police Region 10 Community Affairs and Development Office identified the two pilots of the FA-50 jet plane that went missing on Tuesday morning as Major Jude Salang-oy and 1lieutenant AJ Dadulla, who hails from Barangay Alae, Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon.
Lieutenant Colonel Salvacion Evangelista, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Eastern Mindanao Command, said that the cadavers and the crash site were found in the farming village of Miarayon in Talakag Wednesday morning.
Duluan said the crash site was near the top of Mt. Kalatungan and faced the nearby Mt. Kitanglad.
“The soldiers of the 1st Special Forces Battalion reported that the fuselage remains intact but without its wings. The plane also slid down from the mountain after it crashed,” he said.
Duluan said the soldiers found the badly burned bodies of the pilots outside the plane fuselage.
He said the soldiers also found one of the two 500-pound bombs that the ill-fated aircraft carried for tactical operation.
“We have to detonate the bomb on site and continue looking for the other missing bomb,” Duluan said.
Major. General Michele Anayron, commander of the 4th Infantry Division said they asked for an air strike to support troops battling a band of 70 New People’s Army rebels near Calabugao town in Bukidnon last Monday.
After taking off from the Benito Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, Cebu, the ill-fated aircraft lost communications with another F-50 jet 40 nautical miles to the target area.
Nilo Onduran, barangay chairman of San Miguel in Talakag town said they were roused from their sleep Tuesday morning and heard a loud explosion and a big ball of fire on top of Mt. Kalatungan.
