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Sunday, July 4, 2021

17 dead in military plane crash in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said at least 17 soldiers were killed in a fiery crash Sunday when a military transport plane carrying 92 passengers, including 8 crewmen and pilots, missed the runway in Sulu’s capital town of Jolo.

“Initial report states that there were 92 personnel on board including 3 pilots and 5 crew. The rest were Army personnel reporting for duty. So far 40 wounded and injured were rescued and 17 bodies recovered. Rescue and recovery is ongoing,” he said in a brief statement. 

Philippine military chief General Cirilito Sobejana said the C-130 aircraft, which was transporting dozens of troops from Cagayan de Oro City in northern Mindanao, missed the runway and failed to gain altitude and crashed in Patikul's Bangkal village. He also said at least 40 soldiers had been rescued from the plane. 




Military photos from Kalinaw News show the wreckage of the ill-fated transport plane in Sulu's Patikul town. 

Photos of the crash quickly went viral on social media with several pictures showing the two soldiers lying on the grass near the wreckage. The crash site is surrounded by small trees and a bamboo fence indicating it is a civilian area. 

One photo shows two an army lieutenant, his head bloodied and another soldier nearby being assisted by unidentified men, probably soldiers too, who were on the scene. And another photo shows the burning wreckage of the aircraft – its tail number 5125 is visible even as black and white smoke billowed from the plane. Uniformed soldiers were also on the scene trying to help put out the fire. 

According to a report of MaxDefense Philippines, the transport plane was the former MC-130 Combat Spear aircraft of the US Special Operations Command. The aircraft, it said, was purchased under Horizon 2 phase using Philippine funding and U.S. military assistance grant. 

The crash came four days after a Philippine Air Force S-701 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during night flight training in the town of Capas in Tarlac province in central Luzon, killing all six airmen aboard. 

The downed Polish-built chopper was under the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing based at Clark Air Base. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

The helicopters are manufactured by PZL Mielec, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, which had also previously acquired Sikorsky, the original manufacturer of the Black Hawk.

The Philippines acquired the helicopters under a government-to-government deal with Poland, signing a contract worth $241 million in 2019. The Black Hawks are being bought under the U.S. ally’s five-year Horizon 2 modernization program, which will run from 2018-2022. (Mindanao Examiner)


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