On Sunday, a Philippine Air Force aircraft crashed in the southern Philippines killing fifty people. This was the worst military aviation accident in the country’s history.
Philippines affiliate reported that the C-130 military plane was carrying troops from Mindanao’s Cagayan de Oro to Sulu when it crashed onto the runway at Jolo.
The plane was carrying 96 military personnel as well as a crew. At 11:30 AM local time, crashed into the nearby village of Patikul (11:30 p.m.). ET
“Troops and civilian volunteers raced to the accident site in a matter of minutes for search and rescue. According to Joint Task Force Sulu, eyewitnesses reported that several soldiers were seen leaping out of the plane before it crashed. This saved them from the blast caused by the crash.
All victims are now accounted for. Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo spoke for the military and said that 47 soldiers were killed while 49 survived the crash. Arevalo stated that three civilians were killed and four others were hurt.
He said that the soldiers aboard the flight were all fresh graduates who had just completed military training.
Monday’s arrival of an investigative team was to search for the plane’s flight data recorder and investigate the cause of the crash. They will also investigate reports that soldiers jumped from the plane.
Images taken by local television stations showed the wreckage of the plane, thick smoke rising from the village. Images of the crash are filled with smoke rising from the blue sky through the palms.
William N Gonzales, Joint Task Force Sulu Commander, stated that the personnel on board the plane were “required to report to their battalions in the present.” They were to be part of our fight against terrorists.”
Reuters reported that this is the country’s worst-ever military aviation disaster in 30 years. 30 people were killed when a Philippine Air Force C-130 crashed in 1993.
Recently, the Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft arrived in the Philippines. According to an announcement on the US government website in February, it was one of two aircraft that were granted under the military financing program.
The plane was in excellent condition. The plane had approximately 11,000 hours of flying before maintenance was required.
As part of the standard operating procedure, all C-130s in the Philippines will be grounded. The military has only one C-130 in the Philippines, and the two other C-130s are in overseas maintenance.
The Sunday crash came weeks after the S-70i Black Hawk utility helicopter was damaged in a night flight around 60 miles north of Manila. According to the Philippines, all six aboard the helicopter died.
According to a Philippine government website, it was one out of a series of new combat utility Helicopters that the Armed Forces purchased to modernize their fleet.
The military personnel was to support the battalions against Abu Sayyaf. is a Filipino Jihadi group that was founded in Sulu and has been involved with bomb attacks, piracy, and other crimes for many decades. In 2014, the group declared allegiance to ISIS.