Manila (Philippines): An air force helicopter crashed on a busy street in a central Philippine city, pinning a motorcycle taxi and hitting another with its spinning rotors. At least seven people on the ground and one airman were killed.
The Vietnam War-era UH-1H Huey was preparing to land after a training flight when it crashed about a mile from the Mactan air base, said Lt. Col. Epifanio Panzo, an air force spokesman. Investigators were sent to determine the cause.
Panzo confirmed the death of one crewmember; three others on the helicopter suffered minor injuries, hospital staff said.
DZBB radio reported that helicopter's rotors ''chopped up'' the taxi and dismembered its passengers. Electric power lines were severed, causing a power outage in the area, the report said.
The military's more than 30 Hueys are the workhorses of the Philippine air force.
In one of the worst helicopter crashes in recent years, nine people aboard a Huey - including the government's chief volcanologist - died in April 2005 when it slammed into a steep ravine in the northern Philippines due to bad weather and the pilot's unfamiliarity with the terrain.
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