THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will send the black box of the ill-fated C-130 military plane to the United States (US) for examination, AFP Chief of Staff Cirilito Sobejana said Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
“Wala tayong kakayahan locally na buksan at tingnan kung ano ‘yung nilalaman (ng black box). Ipapadala po natin ito sa Amerika at nakausap na rin natin ‘yung counterpart (sa US),” he said in a television interview.
“Sila naman ay nag-commit na kung matatangap na nila, bubuksan nila kaagad upang basahin kung ano ang nilalaman nito at ipasa agad sa atin para makatulong ng malaki ito sa pag-imbestiga kung ano ‘yung sanhi ng pagbagsak ng C-130,” he added.
The aircraft was acquired from the US. When it was delivered in January 2021, AFP spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo said "it had more than 11,000 flying hours and still had 11,000 flying hours remaining before the next maintenance."
Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano, Philippine Air Force spokesperson, denied that the aircraft was overloaded when it went down on July 4, killing 50 soldiers and three civilians, and injuring 46 other soldiers and four civilians.
He said the C-130 has the capacity to carry 120 individuals, excluding the pilots and crew members.
Mariano said the plane carried 96 individuals on July 4, consisting of 84 passengers, three pilots, five crew, three medical personnel and one assistant crew.
He said the investigation team was looking into the weather situation at the time of incident and possible human error.
“We will be able to know the cause of the accident once na nag-submit na po ang ating investigation team ng kanilang report. Right now they are on the ground... They are composed of pilots, maintenance officer, medical officers at ibang technical fields na kailangan for investigation,” he said.
Officials earlier said the plane missed the runway and tried the regain power, but crashed at around 11:30 a.m. of July 4 in Barangay Bangkal, Patikul, Sulu.
Most of the bodies recovered from the crash site were charred beyond recognition as the aircraft burst into flames.
Major General Corleto Vinluan, Western Mindanao Command commander, said 19 remains have already been identified. Twelve have been turned over to their bereaved families.
Meanwhile, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap pledged to give P5 million financial aid to the bereaved families and those who were injured in the incident. The funds will be turned over to the AFP.
The AFP assured earlier that the casualties will receive all the benefits due them.
Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao has also pledged to give P50,000 to each of the families of the soldiers who perished and P20,000 for each of the injured. (SunStar Philippines)