DAVAO CITY (UPDATED) —A helicopter carrying Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Archie Gamboa crashed in Barangay San Antonio, San Pedro, Laguna earlier this morning, Thursday, March 5.
Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Chief Police Colonel Wilson Doromal in an interview with CNN said Gamboa just came from their office to inspect the stored carnapped/impounded vehicles when the incident happened.
Doromal said Gamboa just fine but a bit dizzy when he was evacuated to a standby ambulance “Medyo hilo pero okay sya, nasa safe side sya nakaupo, naka seatbelt, nong binuhat namin sya okay siya medyo hilo.”
There were six other officials to include Major Generals Jovic Ramos and Mariel Magaway, his comptrollership and intelligence heads, respectively; Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesman; an aide, a technician and 2 pilots, the PNP Public Information Office said.
The PNP chief and his staff were aboard a 2-year old Bell 429 chopper .
The chopper was taking off when the chopper got tangled with power lines.
The weather was fine when Gamboa’s chopper landed at the HPG compound but “When the chopper took off, nag zero visibility na, ” Doromal added.
The chopper was almost cut off as a result of the crash.-Editha Z. Caduaya
