Why is the Air Force still using ‘flying coffins’?

THE PHILIPPINE Air Force lost again yet another S-211 trainer jet. (Inquirer, 4/30/11) This type of jet has been in use by PAF for several years now. The government prides itself in having the best training facilities in Southeast Asia. The only question that boggles our mind is why the PAF continues to use the S-211 for the training of its pilots despite the plane’s disastrous record.

Sadly, since 2002 a total of six S-211s have crashed, killing a number of military pilots. Such a dismal record should prompt PAF’s Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena to abandon all plans of keeping the S-211 training jets, dubbed by our air force pilots as flying coffins, in its air assets inventory.

Asean members like Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei use BAC trainer jets that are made in the United Kingdom and noted for their reliability and dependability. Why does the Philippines persist in using the S-211s which have figured in several accidents even before the one that occurred in Bagac, Bataan and killed two pilots?

All the remaining six S-211 trainer jets have been grounded but after a thorough investigation, perhaps, they should be mothballed permanently.

—ROMEO V. JARDELEZA,
18 Takip Silim St., Teresa Heights,
Novaliches, Quezon City