Philippines grounds 41 Huey helicopters after crash

MANILA, Apr 29 (Reuters) The Philippine Air Force has grounded its fleet of 41 Huey helicopters, a day after one of the decades-old aircraft crashed into a village and killed nine people.

Air Force Chief Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino said in a statement he had sent a team to look into the cause of the accident yesterday in the central Philippines that initially killed the co-pilot of the Vietnam-war era UH-1H chopper and seven people on the ground.

Another crew member died later in hospital, while the two remaining occupants survived.

The helicopter went out of control when its tail rotor snagged electric wires, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Epifanio Panzo told reporters.

The chopper was on a training flight when it crashed in the middle of a road.

REUTERS KK PM1607