Malolos City—A Pampanga businessman, his bodyguard and a pilot died Thursday past noon after their helicopter crashed into a fishpond in Barangay Anilao, Malolos City.
Killed were Liberato Laus, owner of the CarWorld chain of car dealers and CLTV36, a regional TV station; the pilot, Capt. Eber Coronel, and Laus’ bodyguard, Wilfran Esteban.
Bulacan police said Laus and Coronel were declared dead on arrival at the Bulacan Medical Center while Esteban died while being treated in the emergency room.
Witnesses said they saw the red chopper trying to land then suddenly going down and bursting into flames.
Civil aviation investigators have been dispatched to the scene of the accident.
The chopper left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport general aviation hangar around 12:28 p.m. and was going to San Fernando, Pampanga when the accident
occurred, said Eric Apolonio, chief information officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
Apolonio also said CAAP Director General Capt. Jim Sydiongco ordered the deployment of Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board investigators headed by chief investigator Rainier Baculinao to the crash site.