Philippines grounds Blackhawk helicopter fleet as crash kills 6

Bangkok, Jun 24 (EFE).- Philippine Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana ordered Thursday the temporary grounding of the entire Blackhawk military helicopter fleet after one of them crashed Wednesday night in northern Manila, killing six people.

The incident occurred on a training mission near the Clark Air Force Base, the minister said in a statement.

The aircraft, an S-70i Black Hawk helicopter, is one of 16 acquired in 2019 according to local press reports, and was delivered in November.

Authorities opened an investigation to try and determine the cause of the crash.

The Philippine Army has a long list of fatal incidents due, in part, to poor vehicle maintenance, many of which are purchased second or third hand.

The government pledged in 2018 to allocate more than $ 6 billion to upgrade the outdated arsenal of the security forces. EFE

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