Philippine Air Force Official Discloses Cause Of Crashed Plane

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua / August 27, 2008) - A senior Philippine Air Force official on Wednesday said material failure and pilot errors are likely to be the main cause of a military plane's crash soon after takeoff Monday evening, leaving 9 people on board missing.

Air Force Chief Lt. General Pedrito Cadungog said investigators are also looking into "weather phenomenon" as there was an eyewitness who said there was a lighting strike.

But he was also saying that the plane was not likely to have been sabotaged and there was no indication of an explosion before the crash.

The C-130 plane, acquired in 1983 through the United States financing program, had taken off from the Davao City airport at around 08:00 p.m. Monday night local time and was on its way to Iloilo City to fetch personnel from Presidential Security Group. It had two pilots and seven crew members.

By late Wednesday, rescuers have yet found any sign of survival at the suspected site of the crash. Body parts, plane parts and debris were recovered at the sea surface.

Navy Captain Rosauro Gonzales said the wreckage of the C-130 was located 2.5 nautical miles southwest of Samal island and at the depth of 600 feet under water, a distance too deep for rescuers to dive.

Cadungog said that salvaging the wreckage of the aircraft may not be only difficult but also very impractical.

"Basically, we have no visual (of the wreckage). Our divers have not seen it," said Gonzales, adding that the present search is presently concentrated on the debris and body parts.

Gonzales said rescuers have recovered more body parts in the second day of the rescue operation. "They are just inside black plastic bags, the body parts. We also recovered a seat of the aircraft in the area...We have no recovery of body or even a torso, they are all small body parts," he said.

C-130s provides the military a heavy-lift capability and are a big help in offensives, specifically in the transport of government troops and logistics, and in the transport of relief goods to disaster-stricken areas.

Philippine Military Cargo Plane Crashes At Sea

An undated photo of one of two aging Philippine Air Force cargo aircraft prepares to land in the southern island of Sulu. The Philippine Air Force on says one one of its C130 cargo plane crashed at sea near the Davao Gulf off Mindanao after it took off from the Davao International Airport before midnight Monday. On Tuesday, coastal villagers recovered debris from the plane, including a pair of military boots, an aircraft manual and some body parts. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 26, 2008) - A Philippine Air Force C130 transport plane crashed at sea shortly after take off in Davao City in Mindanao.

Aircraft debris had been recovered on Tuesday near the Davao Gulf where the military launched a massive search for the ageing aircraft. Among the recovered debris was a pair of combat boots, aircraft manuals and pieces of metals believed from the skin of the C130 plane. It was not immediately known if there was any survivor.

The aircraft, built in 1971, had lost contact after taking off from Davao International Airport shortly before midnight Monday.

Philippine Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog said: “We are still verifying really as to what transpired because this is something very unusual. The aircraft and the pilots were all okay before take off and everything was normal until that time.”

The aircraft, piloted by Captain Adrian de Dios and Major Manuel Sambrano, was carrying seven crewmen and on their way to Iloilo province in central Philippines to pick up members of the Presidential Security Group after Monday's visit by President Gloria Arroyo.

Television reports identified the crew as Sergeants Constantino Lobregat, John Arriola, Gerry Delioso, Felix Pedro Patriarga, Petronilo Fernandez, Patricio Claur Jr, and Sergeant Aldrin Ilustrisimo.

“We still do not what really happened really, but the last contact we had on the C130 was at the Butuan air base,” Lt. Col. Roland Bautista, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division in Davao City, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The cause of the crash was unknown. “It could be mechanical trouble, we still don’t know,” Bautista said.

The Philippine Air Force has only two ageing C130 aircrafts in their fleet of mostly old OV-10 fighter planes and UH-1H helicopters. (With reports from Romy Bwaga)