Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Aircraft sabotage highly improbable: PAF official By Cheng Ordonez
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A top official of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) dismissed speculations of sabotage as the cause of the ill-fated C-130 that crashed a few minutes after it took off from the Davao International Airport Monday night.
Colonel Isagani Silva, chief of the PAF Tactical Operations Group 11 in Davao City, said it was "highly improbable" that the crash was due to sabotage, even as he said that C-130 aircraft operating in the country is in "A-1" condition and being regularly maintained by the PAF.
"I saw it took off and it was okay until communication with the aircraft was lost," Silva told a television network Tuesday.
Despite this, Air Force chief Lieutenant General Pedrito Cadungog said "there was something unusual" in the incident.
The last communication from the pilots was a minute after it took off. They (pilots) were given instructions to turn left for Iloilo City, Cadungog said.
He said the plane was expected to continue to communicate but failed, hence it was reported missing minutes later.
"We're still verifying as to what really transpired because this is something very unusual... the aircraft and the pilots were all Okay before takeoff and everything was normal until that time," he said.
Colonel Roland Bautista of the Philippine Army's 10th Infantry Division, which is helping in the search and rescue operations, confirmed Tuesday the recovery of aircraft debris believed to be of the missing military cargo aircraft, including combat boots and body parts off Davao Gulf.
Bautista said pieces of an aircraft, two combat boots, body parts and manuals were found in an area between Samal Island and Davao City.
"We still do not know what really happened, but the last contact we had on the C-130 was at the Butuan air base," Bautista said.
The cause of the crash was unknown. "It could be mechanical trouble, we still don't know," he added.
PAF officials also confirmed Tuesday that the debris was from the C-130 aircraft and the combat boots and some manuals they have recovered could be from the pilots and crew of the aircraft.
Search and rescue operations were launched after the plane, with two pilots and seven crewmembers onboard, went missing shortly after it took off from the Davao International Airport.
The aircraft pilots were identified as Major Manny Sambrano and Captain Adrian de Dios.
The crew onboard were identified by television reports as Sergeants Constantino Lobregat, John Arriola, Gerry Delioso, Felix Pedro Patriarga, Petronilo Fernandez, Patricio Claur Jr., and Aldrin Ilustrisimo.
Air Force Nomad planes, UH-1H helicopters, S-76 chopper and Beechcraft 200 chopper were dispatched to search for survivors and help personnel from PAF, Philippines Army, Coast Guard, Navy and the Philippine National Police (PNP) that scour the area between Samal Island and Davao mainland, Bautista said.
The local governments of Samal Island and Davao City are also helping in the search and rescue operations.
The PAF reportedly has only two ageing C-130 aircraft in their fleet of mostly old OV-10 fighter planes and UH-1H helicopters.
