Philippines identifies US military plane that hit road barrier, injuring 5 crew members

The Philippine military has identified the U.S. military aircraft that crashed during a Tuesday roadway exercise as an Air Force C-146 Wolfhound special operations plane, an incident that injured five crew members.

The short takeoff-and-landing aircraft struck a concrete barrier while attempting to depart from a roadway, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Two service members were treated at a local medical facility, according to an unsigned email Thursday from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

“One of the individuals has been discharged, while the other remains in medical care and is in stable condition,” the command said.

The Wolfhound crashed during a joint roadway landing exercise in Laoac, Pangasinan, according to a Wednesday report by the state-run Philippine News Agency, citing the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The area is slightly more than an hour’s drive north of Clark Air Base, a former Air Force installation that continues to host U.S. military training in the Philippines.

The exercise was coordinated with Philippine authorities to practice operations in cases where airports and runways are inaccessible, such as during typhoons or earthquakes, the AP reported.

INDOPACOM confirmed that an accident occurred during training in central Luzon but did not provide additional details. No civilians were injured, and the incident remains under investigation, the command said.

Photos posted Tuesday on Facebook by the Philippine Department of National Defense showed a Wolfhound conducting what was described as the “first highway landing operation in the Philippines and only the second in Asia.”

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro observed the highway landing in Pangasinan, according to the post.

Photos released last month by U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific showed a Wolfhound taking off from an austere location on Luzon on Jan. 27.

The Wolfhound is the military version of the Dornier 328 turboprop commuter aircraft and has been continuously deployed since October 2011, according to an Air Force fact sheet. Its primary mission is to provide Special Operations Command with flexible, responsive transport for small teams and cargo.

“Airlift missions are conducted by Air Force Special Operations Command aircrews to prepared and semi-prepared airfields around the world,” the fact sheet states.

The twin-engine, high-wing aircraft is capable of carrying passengers and cargo and conducting casualty evacuation missions, according to the Air Force.