NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Boholano Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilot Captain Aurelios Olano who perished when the helicopter he was operating crashed in waters off Getafe town died as a hero.
His remains will be laid to rest tomorrow amidst “tribute and honoring ” from both local government as well as Airforce authorities.
An Airforce chopper has been hovering the departed pilot’s baranagay until his burial at the Candijay Catholic Cemetery at 1:00pm tomrrow..
Olano died “with his boots on” as he made sure to let his companions jumped while he was trying to manuever the chopper to drop into the sea.
Candijay Mayor Christopher Tutor together with his wife, Rep. Alexi Tutor will lead local officials in honoring the fallen Candijaynon.
The 32-year old pilto received tributes from both government as well as private sector .
The family of Olano in Candijay was granted permission by the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force to hold a wake at their home in Barangay Tugas considering that he did not die of COVID-19.
PAF aircraft will also be flying over Candijay until Monday as a tribute to the fallen pilot.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-520 “Defender” attack helicopter which was piloted by Olano plummeted into waters off Barangay Taytay, Getafe on Monday morning while the aircraft was on an engineering flight.
His co-pilot and two other crew members survived the mishap and were taken to a hospital in Talibon then transferred to a medical facility in Lapu-Lapu City.
All three were in stable condition.
The ill-fated aircraft with tail number 410 is from the PAF’s 15th Strike Wing.
Olano died of drowning after he sustained multiple injuries during the crash.
“Bump on his head might render him unconscious. The cause of death is drowning. His stomach contains 500-600ml brownish liquid water. Meaning he ingested water. Had he survived, he would have needed to be brought to a hospital immediately because of the bleeding of his brain,” said Fuentes.