MANILA — A Philippine Navy chopper crashed at the Sangley Airport in Cavite City on Thursday morning.

“This is to confirm that one of our AW-109s crashed early this morning around 10:18 a.m. at the Sangley Airport,”  Navy spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos told ABS-CBN News in a phone interview.

Alcos said the two pilots and three crew members only sustained minor cuts and bruises.

“Okay naman sila [mga sakay]. One is being treated for leg injuries pero hindi naman severe,” he added.

According to Alcos, the AW-109 helicopter took off from the Sangley Airport to conduct a functional check flight after completing its 400-hour scheduled maintenance inspection.

The aircraft was already in its third sortie when it crashed while attempting to land at the airport.

“Magla-land na siya. May iba’t ibang checks na gagawin. For this particular one, they were conducting the auto-rotation check. That was when it crashed,” the spokesperson said.

“Doon [Sangley Airport] din siya babalik. Doon siya nagcrash. Magla-land na siya [sana],” he added. 

An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the crash.

“We cannot ascertain ano ang exact degree ng damage doon sa chopper and we will release that once the investigation is completed,” Alcos said.

“We haven’t received word from the Naval Air Wing yet, pero I think based on protocols, ginaground natin ang mga aircraft natin except for those na operationally kailangang-kailangan sa area,” he continued.