Philippines orders investigation after military plane crash killed 50 people

Authors: Karen Lema and Enrico Dela Cruz

Manila (Reuters)-Philippine authorities ordered an investigation into the crash of an Air Force plane on Monday. The plane broke off the runway, killing 47 soldiers on board, 3 civilians on the ground, and wounding dozens of others.

Officials quoted witnesses as saying that some passengers on the Lockheed C-130 jumped up a few seconds before the plane crashed and caught fire on the weekend.

The plane was carrying newly graduated soldiers for counter-insurgency operations and has been trying to land at Jolo Airport in southern Sulu Province.

Military spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo said that all 96 passengers on the plane were missing, 49 military personnel were injured, and 4 civilians were on the ground.

At the press conference, Arevalo stated that the aircraft was in “very good condition” and had 11,000 flight hours before the next maintenance due.

“We are determined to find out what happened in this very tragic incident, because according to the available information, the aircraft followed the specified protocol,” he said.

Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana ordered an investigation into the country’s worst military air crash in nearly 30 years.

The military command stated that the soldiers were flying to Jolo Airport from Larkindingan, about 460 kilometers (290 miles) to the northeast, and deployed to their battalion.

The army of the huge Philippine Islands has been engaged in prolonged wars in the area with Islamic radicals from Abu Sayyaf and other factions.

Officials said there was no indication that the plane was shot down by the insurgents.

Arevalo added: “We assure our employees that we are transparent and that the results of the investigation (to be announced) will be available after completion,” Arevalo added that the authorities are still looking for flight recorders.

Jolo Airport has a 1,200-meter-long runway that is usually used for civilian turboprop flights, but occasionally there are some military flights, according to the Civil Aviation Administration.

A government website stated in January that the Lockheed aircraft had only recently arrived in the Philippines and was one of two aircraft provided by the US government through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

It quoted an Air Force spokesperson as saying that the aircraft will enhance the capability of heavy airlift missions.

According to the C-130.net website, the crashed plane flew for the first time in 1988. This model is the main force of armed forces around the world.

The aviation safety record of the Philippine Armed Forces is uneven. Last month, a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training mission, killing 6 people.

In 1993, the Philippine Air Force C-130 crashed, killing 30 people. The Aviation Safety Network said that in 2008, a Lockheed civilian aircraft piloted by the Philippine Air Force crashed, causing 11 deaths.

The country’s worst plane crash was the Philippine Airlines Boeing (NYSE:) 737 in 2000, which caused 131 deaths.