Skip to main content

2 killed and 3 hurt in helicopter emergency landing in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A civilian helicopter made an emergency landing Tuesday in a grassy clearing near a village east of the Philippine capital, killing two people and injuring the three others onboard.

It was not immediately clear what caused the forced landing in clear weather about 50 meters (164 feet) from the nearest cluster of houses in a village in Pililla town in Rizal province, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and other officials said.

The Bell 505 helicopter took off from Manila and was enroute to Quezon province, more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) southeast of the capital, when it made a forced landing, aviation officials said.

One person died instantly from the impact of the landing and another died in a hospital. The three others, including the pilot, were brought to a hospital with injuries, Pililla town Mayor John Masinsin and the provincial police told reporters.

Masinsin added without elaborating that two of those onboard were foreigners, including one of the two who died.

“The survivors are still in shock so we cannot extract details from them,” Masinsin told reporters. “We’re prioritizing their recovery.”

Aviation officials said an investigation was underway.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Read Next Story