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| Philippine Air Force SF-260TP Light Attack Aircraft Crashes, Pilot Dies |
Manila - A light attack aircraft SF-260TP Warrior belonging to the Philippine Air Force (PAF) crashed in Pilar, Bataan, Philippines, Wednesday (25/1). The two pilots on the plane, namely Captain John Paulo and Captain Lan Gerru, were reported dead. MaxDefense Philippines said the aircraft belonged to the PAF 16th Attack Squadron.
It is known, the PAF once had many of these Italian-made aircraft. Consisting of 32 units of SF-260M and 16 SF-260W which arrived in 1974-1975, then 18 units of SF-260TP which arrived in 1991, and 18 SF-260FH which arrived in 2008.
From open sources of information, at least currently the PAF is still operating around 21 SF-260 family aircraft. The PAF plans to retire the SF-260TP Warrior and OV-10 Bronco and replace them entirely with Brazilian Embraer A-29B Super Tucano attack aircraft.
The SF-260TP has a length of 7.10 m, a wingspan of 8.35 m, a height of 2.41 m, and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 1,200 kg. The aircraft is powered by a 190 kW Textron Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 piston engine. It has a maximum flight speed of 333 km/h, an altitude of up to 4,700 m and an operating range of 1,650 km.