U.S. Military Plane Slams Into Concrete Barrier During Training Takeoff in Pangasinan — All 5 American Crew Injured
A U.S. Air Force transport aircraft crashed into a concrete road barrier while attempting to take off from a bypass road in Laoac, Pangasinan on Tuesday afternoon, injuring all five American military personnel on board. The pilot and two others were rushed to the hospital, while the remaining two were treated on-site.
The training exercise involved landing on and taking off from an "alternate landing zone" — essentially a regular road converted into a makeshift runway. Philippine officials confirmed that the activity was pre-planned and fully coordinated with civilian, police, and military authorities. The cause of the accident is now under investigation.
According to one Philippine official, the aircraft managed to land successfully during the exercise but swerved during takeoff and hit the barrier. Officials explained that such unconventional training is necessary to prepare forces for contingencies where regular airports and runways become inaccessible — think super typhoons and major earthquakes, scenarios all too familiar sa Pilipinas.
U.S. forces are authorized to train alongside Filipino troops under the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement. In recent years, joint exercises have focused heavily on the South China Sea dispute, where the Philippines and China have clashed repeatedly. Pangasinan itself lies just west of the contested waters.
The incident comes at a sensitive time as the U.S. deepens its military footprint in the Philippines. While the alliance remains strong, accidents like these raise questions about safety protocols during increasingly complex joint training operations on Philippine soil.
Source: NBC News
