DEATH TOLL RISES TO 29 IN PHILIPPINE MILITARY PLANE CRASH

Sun 04 July 2021:

At least 29 people were killed and 50 injured Sunday when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed and burst into flames after missing the runway in the country’s south, officials said.

Another 17 on board the C-130 Hercules transport plane when it crashed while trying to land on Jolo island in Sulu province are still missing, Major General William Gonzales said in a statement.

“This is a sad day but we have to remain hopeful,” he said.

The incident took place on Sunday when a Philippines Air Force plane carrying troops crashed on landing and broke up in flames, the country’s worst military air disaster in nearly 30 years.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said rescue efforts are ongoing. He said the aircraft had 92 people on board, including three pilots and five crew. The rest were army personnel.

The plane was transporting troops from southern Cagayan de Oro city, Sobejana said.

The Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft carrying troops bound for counter-insurgency operations crashed with 96 aboard at Patikul in the far southern province of Sulu.

The army in the sprawling Philippine archipelago has been fighting a long war against Islamist militants from Abu Sayyaf and other factions.

“A number of soldiers were seen jumping out of the aircraft before it hit the ground, sparing them from the explosion caused by the crash,” the unit, the Joint Task Force Sulu, said in the statement.

Military chief Cirilito Sobejana said the plane had “missed the runway trying to regain power”.

The country’s worst plane crash was that of an Air Philippines Boeing 737 in 2000, which killed 131 people.

The Philippines armed forces have had a patchy air safety record. Last month a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training mission, killing six people.

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