Philippine military plane crash highlights country’s ageing, stretched equipment
- An investigation has been launched after a C-130 Hercules transport plane crashed while landing on Jolo Island on Sunday, killing at least 52
- An analyst said the country’s air assets are overworked, partly because President Rodrigo Duterte refuses to ask for US help during natural disasters
The crash has so far killed 49 soldiers who were on board the plane and three civilians on the ground, while 47 were injured. The plane was carrying 96 people, including two pilots and four other airmen. Three of the six airmen survived but are in serious condition, according to military chief General Cirilito Sobejana.
Major General Romeo Brawner, who on Monday took over the 4th Infantry “Diamond” Division from which many of the fatalities came, said he and his family “rode the same C-130 airplane that crashed” earlier that day.
Brawner told his changeover command ceremony that the 6am flight from Metro Manila’s Villamor Air Base to Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City was uneventful and nothing seemed amiss.
“It was really shocking news for us yesterday, after disembarking at Lumbia Airport, after a few hours we heard the news that the same aircraft crashed in Jolo and with it perished the lives of 47 of our comrades,” said Brawner, who once commanded the military forces that wrested the city of Marawi from the control of Islamic militants.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he has ordered “a full investigation to get to the bottom of the C-130 incident, as soon as the rescue and recovery operation is completed”.