Plane makes emergency landing in N Ecija; 2 hurt

An Indian flight student and a Filipino pilot were injured after the small private plane they were using made an emergency landing in Nueva Ecija on Thursday morning, local authorities said. Policemen said the two were on board the single-engine plane owned by Omni Aviation Corp. The aircraft came back to earth in Valeriana village, Zaragoza in the western area of Nueva Ecija. Senior Insp. Restituto Reyes, chief of the Zaragoza Police, identified the victims as Indian national Sandeep Kimar, 30, and Filipino Jeffrey Mabarang, 26. Reyes told GMANews.TV that the Cagayan province-bound plane took off at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (formerly Clark Airport) in Angeles City in Pampanga and flew northward. The two were supposedly testing the aircraft's engine. While flying over Nueva Ecija at about 10 a.m., the plane's engine "malfunctioned." This prompted Mabarang to take emergency maneuvers. "They were headed for Tuguegarao City when the engine conked out. They were forced to land at a rice field," the police chief said in Filipino. Authorities estimated that the landing site was about 100 km away from Angeles City. "The pilot (Mabarang) was good, he was able to steer the plane away from nearby houses," Reyes said. The victims were rushed to the Central Luzon Hospital in Tarlac province to undergo treatment. "They both had wounds to their faces and bodies but Jeffrey also suffered minor burns," said Reyes. However, he assured that the two men were already out of harm's way. Zaragoza is a fourth-class municipality in Nueva Ecija with a population of 37,645 people in 7,599 households. - GMANews.TV