Pilots die after chopper crash

Two Philippine Navy pilots died yesterday after a helicopter crash near a public market south of the capital Manila.

The Robinson R22 aircraft was on a training flight when it went down in Cavite city at around 6am, the Philippine Navy said.

Two officer pilots on board were taken to hospital but died from their injuries, it said. The crashed helicopter was the only Robinson R22 in the navy's fleet.

It was the latest deadly training accident for the Philippine military. Two Philippine Air Force pilots were killed in January 2023 when their Marchetti SF260 turboprop plane crashed into a rice field.

In June 2021, the military temporarily grounded its entire Black Hawk fleet after an S-70i helicopter crashed during a night-time training, killing all six on board.