Army chopper crashes in central Philippines, 8 dead

MANILA, Apr 28 (Reuters) Eight people were killed and three wounded when a military helicopter on a training flight crashed into a crowded village outside an airbase in the central Philippines, an air force spokesman said today.

Lieutenant-Colonel Epifanio Panzo said a UH-1H helicopter was returning to the base on Mactan island in the central Philippines when it crashed, hitting a motorbike and sidecar carrying seven people who were all killed.

''Seven people on the ground and a crew (member) of the chopper were killed,'' Panzon told reporters. ''The two pilots and a second crew (member) were wounded, but it took hours to get them out from the wreckage because they were pinned down.'' The Philippine Air Force has sent technical experts to investigate the cause of the crash by the Vietnam War-era helicopter which occurred around (1525 hrs IST).

The Philippines has about 60 UH-1H helicopters, including 20 units with night-flying capability acquired from Singapore under a commercial deal in 2004.

In 2003, US President George W Bush promised to donate 20 of the helicopters during a visit to Manila, but not a single aircraft has been delivered after relations were soured by the pullout of Filipino troops from Iraq.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has allocated (211 million dollar) to upgrade the capabilities of local armed forces to fight communist rebels, Muslim separatists and a small al Qaeda-linked Islamic militant group.

REUTERS SM PM1852