|
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
C-130 plane debris found in southern sea
DAVAO CITY (Updated 3:02 p.m.) -- Fishermen found body parts, combat boots, and other debris Tuesday that were believed to be from a C-130 military transport plane, which disappeared after taking off in the southern Philippines with nine crew members on board.
Air force chief Lieutenant General Pedrito Cadungog said "it is highly probable" that the remains belonged to the aircraft that lost contact five minutes after taking off from Davao International Airport at 8:50 p.m. Monday. He said the debris included a plane wheel and other parts.
Visit the Beijing Olympics 2008 blog
The weather was reported clear at the time of the crash.
Davao police investigator Joel Parojinog said residents from a coastal village told police they recovered from shore two combat boots, human body parts, and some documents, including a C-130 manual.
He said they reported seeing a plane around 9 p.m. Monday "going down into the sea with flames on one of the wings," followed by an underwater explosion.
Cadungog said earlier that the air force had asked for assistance from the US military, its key ally in the anti-terrorism war in the southern Philippines, and a long-range aircraft was expected to join eight other Philippine planes and helicopters later Tuesday.
Search efforts focused on a 20-mile (30-kilometer) radius around the airport, including the nearby sea, Cadungog said.
The two pilots onboard the missing plane were identified as Major Manuel Zambrano and Captain Adrian de Dios.
He said the C-130, with two pilots and seven other crewmen, refueled in Davao and was headed to central Iloilo City to pick up more than 80 members of the Presidential Security Group after Monday's visit by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who attended the wake of a slain army colonel.
Earlier Monday, the plane transported combat troops from Fort Magsaysay, an army base in northern Nueva Ecija province, to Davao, a major southern airport on the edge of the coast, Cadungog said.
The central and western parts of Mindanao island have been the site of intense fighting between troops and Muslim rebels.
The military has been pursuing three commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and their men who were blamed for killing dozens of civilians and pillaging communities in three southern provinces last week.
Cadungog did not speculate what might have caused the plane to crash, but said sabotage is "always a possibility," especially because the air force was leading the operations against the rebels.
Air force helicopters and planes have been hitting rebel hide-outs "so if you read from that, you will know that if there is one force that the enemy would want to strike, it would be the air force," Cadungog said.
But he said the rebels did not have weapons that could shoot down a plane flying at more than 3,000 feet (900 meters). At the time the plane lost contact, it was estimated to be flying at about 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) and climbing, he said.
Cadungog said the aircraft, built in 1971 and acquired by the air force in 1983, was last inspected August 15, when it was fitted with a new engine.
He called the C-130 a "very reliable all-weather aircraft."
Major Donald Madarang, who flew the plane before it was turned over to another pilot for the Davao flight, said there was nothing wrong with the C-130 except for a minor instrument that helps the engine to start before takeoff. That instrument was immediately fixed, he said.
The country's other C-130 was grounded for inspections. (AP)
Related story:
Gov't tracks missing C-130 plane
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (August 26, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
