The Philippine Air Force received assistance from the United States in quest for the trainer plane that crashed off Mariveles, Bataan, Globalnation Inquirer reports.
Air Force spokesman Colonel Miguel Ernesto Okol stated: “That is a welcome development for us. Any help from an allied force such as the US enhances our interoperability with them as well as aids us in our capability especially in these retrieval operations”.
The search for the missing plane will be conducted with the US salvage ship, USS Safeguard (T-ARS 50). The ship is equipped with high underwater detection capabilities, 25 US navy divers and 70 highly-trained personnel in rescue and salvage operations.
US CARAT commander Rear Admiral Thomas Carney added: “We are not only conducting joint Naval and Maritime training exercises, but actual search and salvage operations for the missing PAF plane”.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , July 04, 2012