This morning, at around 9:45 a.m., a PAMAS (Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services) R44 Raven helicopter crashed in a banana plantation in Sitio Babahagon, Lantapan Bukidnon, on its way to Mountain View College (MVC).
Two pilots and two passengers were on the chopper, and thankfully, all survived the unexpected accident. However, the cause of the crash is still uncertain as no proof is available at this time.
Jared Hoewing, a PAMAS helicopter pilot, was flying the helicopter near the base in Valencia City, Bukidnon, this morning. He was about 3,000 feet up when the helicopter began to lose power, forcing him to make an emergency landing in a banana field about 5 kilometers from the airbase. Fortunately, neither the pilot nor the passengers suffered major injuries. One passenger was sent to the hospital for further treatment but was not in critical condition. There were no other injuries.
PAMAS staff are still reeling from the previous tragedy, which resulted in the disappearance of the Yellow Bee (PAMAS Helicopter), which was carrying two passengers, its pilot, and a missionary volunteer. Despite the challenges, PAMAS remains resilient and leans heavily on prayers and God's guidance.
In a social media post, PAMAS expressed its appreciation for the prayer and support extended to them during this challenging time.
“As we consider this incident, we want to praise God for his goodness in sparing the lives of all on board. We trust that the Lord will continue to hold this ministry in his hand. As we have said before, we are in a great controversy. We praise God that He, our captain, is in the business of taking that which was meant for evil and turning it for good,” PAMAS said.
“Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers during this time, they are much appreciated,” they added.
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This story was published on the Southern Asia-Pacific website.