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Sunday, July 4, 2021

Philippine military transport plane crashes in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A Philippine Air Force C-130 transport plane crashed Sunday in the southern province of Sulu, reports said, but security officials have not issued any statement on the ill-fated aircraft acquired last year from the United States.

The cause of the crash is still unknown, but the plane with tail number 5125 went down in Patikul town. Photos of the fiery 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 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. It was not immediately known whether the plane crashed while trying to land at the airport in the neighboring capital town of Jolo or it went down shortly after taking off. 

But ABS-CBN quoted Philippine military chief General Cirilito Sobejana as saying that the aircraft, which was transporting dozens of troops from Cagayan de Oro City in northern Mindanao, missed the runway and crashed in Patikul's Bangkal village. He said at least 40 soldiers had been rescued from the plane. 

According to a report of MaxDefense Philippines, the transport plane was the former MC-130 Combat Spear aircraft of the U.S. 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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