Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7) — The United States and Malaysia are now helping the Philippines search for the medical evacuation helicopter that went missing while on its way to a hospital in Palawan, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Monday.
According to the CAAP-Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center (PARCC), the operations were conducted in cooperation with the Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) and the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services (PAMAS).
The agencies handled aerial searches over Kota Kinabalu with two Cessna 192 planes and a US Department of Defense CL60 aircraft.
The CAAP earlier reported that a helicopter with registry number N45VX and operated by PAMAS went missing while on its way to the Southern Palawan Provincial Hospital. On board were the pilot, a nurse, the patient, and two companions.
A day after the chopper went missing, the Philippine Coast Guard reported retrieving a pillow owned by the patient on board the missing air ambulance.
The PARCC also said the agency has coordinated with the Philippine Navy, informing them of search and rescue (SAR) operations over Malaysian territory on Tuesday.
“Kota Kinabalu ARCC also informed the PARCC that their Coast Guard vessel conducted SAR operations south of Pulau Banggi, Sabah Malaysia around 4:00 PM today (Monday),” the agency said.
“They also advised that the Malaysian Police Airwing Department and Malaysian Air Force will conduct SAR operations tomorrow (Tuesday) at the boundary of Pulau Banggi and Balabac,” it added.
The Philippine Air Force also deployed another rescue helicopter to transport the communications team of Task Force iCare from Puerto Princesa City to the PAMAS headquarters.
