MANILA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A Philippine Air Force pilot and two crewmen died and another pilot was injured when their UH-1D helicopter crashed during a military exercise in Tanay town in Rizal, east of Manila on Thursday afternoon.
Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, spokesman of the Army's second Infantry Division, said the aircraft crashed at around 3 p.m. local time in Sitio Hilltop in barangay Sampaloc while preparing to land at a vacant lot.
"This (training) is to ensure that the military is ready for disaster rescue operation... There was a practical exercise today but one chopper got into trouble during landing," said Meneses, adding no civilians were harmed.
The aircraft is part of the seven refurbished UH-1Ds acquired from Rice Aircraft Services a few years ago as part of the Philippine military modernization program. A disgruntled representative of the company said the bidding was rigged by certain officials of the defense department who received grease money from Rice.
This is the second UH-1D helicopter acquired from Rice to crash.
In November 2015, one of the aircraft crashed in Mindanao, injuring two pilots and seven other personnel on board.
