DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 5 Nov) — The remains of six Philippine Air Force (PAF) personnel who perished in a helicopter crash in Loreto, Agusan del Sur on Tuesday arrived in Davao City at 2:55 p.m. on Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Salvacion Evangelista, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom), said that the cadavers of the pilot and crew members of the ill-fated Super Huey were airlifted from Loreto and brought to the Tactical Operations Wing Eastern Mindanao (TOWEM) at Old Airport, Sasa.

A statement issued by EastMinCom on Tuesday said the search and rescue operations led to the recovery of six bodies shortly after the incident occurred.

According to Evangelista, the aircraft departed TOWEM at 10:55 a.m. and crashed in Loreto approximately 25 minutes later, at 11:20 a.m. 

The crew was en route to Tactical Operations Group (TOG) 10 in Butuan City to conduct Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) missions in areas affected by Tropical Storm Tino, within TOG 10’s area of responsibility.

Evangelista said the bodies were found a few hours later, around 3 p.m. She said it took a while to bring the bodies back to Davao City because there were still “inspection procedures” performed on the ground.

She said the remains were still undergoing autopsy and forensic examination to determine their identities before being sent home.

Evangelista said they were prioritizing the identification of a Muslim crew member so that his remains could be sent home to the Zamboanga Peninsula for a funeral in accordance with Islamic traditions. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)