TWO Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots and seven crew members are missing after their C-130 plane “lost contact” five minutes after it took off from Davao City last Monday night.
The nine PAF personnel are stationed at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base’s 220th Heavy Airlift Wing in Cebu.
Body parts, torn uniforms, military boots, personal items like wallets, photos and identification cards, and an operation manual for a C-130 Hercules Lockheed plane were recovered yesterday morning from seaside villages of Davao City.
PAF Chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog said “it is highly probable” that the remains belonged to the aircraft that lost contact shortly after taking off from Davao City International Airport at 8:50 p.m. Monday.
Two fishermen claimed they saw a plane disappear in a cloud, and then they saw a flash of light and heard an explosion.
“Sa taas pa lang, bungkag na (The plane exploded in mid-air),” Ben Anabisa told television reporters.
Those mising were the pilot Maj. Manuel Zambrano Jr.; his co-pilot Capt. Adrian de Dios; Technical Sgt. Enriquez Lobrigas; Staff Sgts. Ariola, Deñoso, Fernandez, Claor, Ilustrisimo; and Sgt. Patriarca.
Seasoned
Most of the crew members are based in Cebu.
The C-130 plane was headed for Iloilo City to pick up at least 80 members of the Presidential Security Group to bring them to Manila. (They were in Iloilo for a presidential visit and a military official’s wake.)
Zambrano headed the country’s humanitarian mission to Myanmar after that country was struck by a typhoon.
He was recently awarded Field Grade Officer of the Year by President Arroyo during the PAF’s 61st anniversary last month. He hails from Nueva Ecija.
Maj. Christopher Tampus, Central Command public information officer, told reporters that Zambrano was a “seasoned pilot” who had more than 2,000 flying hours, while co-pilot de Dios had 1,500 flying hours.
He added that the same plane ferried troops from the 46th and 43rd Infantry Battalions to Mindanao and had a maintenance check-up this month.
New engine
The troops from 46th IB were sent to Cotabato to secure the ARMM elections while the 43rd IB was sent to Lanao last week following hostilities between the AFP and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The aircraft was built in 1971 and purchased by the Philippine Government in 1983. It was fitted with a new engine in August last year. The plane’s tail number was 4593.
It was one of two C-130 planes in the country that still serviced the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Tampus said there were four other C-130 planes, but all these are under repair.
The exact location of the crash remained unknown. Teams from the Philippine Navy and the Coast Guard continued to scour the Davao Gulf area between Agdao District and the Island Garden City of Samal in the hope of finding the main body of the plane.
After failed attempts to establish contact, the Air Transportation Office informed authorities about the missing plane an hour later. A state of distress was declared by 10:30 p.m. when there was still no contact from the plane.
There are no reports yet if the plane carried some civilian passengers.
Search
It is the practice of military and police relatives to ride C-130 planes that are not ferrying any troops or supplies since these flights are for free.
Cadungog said earlier that the air force had asked for assistance from the US military, and a long-range aircraft was expected to join eight other Philippine planes and helicopters later yesterday.
At the time the plane lost contact, it was estimated to be flying about 5,000 feet and climbing, he said.
Cadungog called the C-130 a “very reliable all-weather aircraft.”
Relatives of the victims who live inside the Mactan base were debriefed at the headquarters while waiting for the latest reports on the search and rescue operations.
Long wait
Retired Air Force Lt. Marianito Lobrigas said that his younger brother Enriquez, who served as the flight engineer, contacted his wife in Mactan through a mobile phone to check on their three children.
As a flight engineer, his brother was among those involved in the transport of logistics and personnel in Mindanao since fighting erupted between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the AFP.
“Ang last niyang contact nangumusta sa iyang tulo ka mga anak (That call about his three children was the last time we had contact with him,” Lobrigas said.
He, his mother and Enriquez’s wife stayed with the relatives of the other missing servicemen outside the Mactan air base hangar, anxiously waiting for news. (MEA/AIV)
