THE Philippine Air Force yesterday said it may take over a month to complete the investigation on the July 4 crash of its C-130 plane in Sulu, which killed 49 military personnel on board and four civilians on the ground.
PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano said just the analysis of the contents of the black box or the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) will already take about a month.
The two recorders were sent by the Air Force to a US Air Force facility last Saturday. They were retrieved from the crash site in Barangay Bangkal in Patikul town a day after the mishap.
Mariano said Air Force investigators cannot complete the probe on the accident without analysis of the contents of the FDR and CVR.
“We may have to wait for one month for the result (of the FDR and CVR analysis),” added Mariano.
The altitude, air speed and other conditions of the aircraft can be found in the FDR while radio transmission and conversation in the cockpit, among others, can be found in the CVR, said Mariano.
“Once the result reaches us, we are also going to interpret it based on interviews in the area. We are going to conduct analysis of the aircraft itself, programs that we are following, we will cover all,” he said.
Mariano said investigators have retrieved all the parts of the aircraft. They will be transported by a Navy ship to an Air Force base in Mactan for reconstruction as part of the ongoing probe.
“Our recovery (of the aircraft parts) is now 100 percent complete… We will reconstruct (the aircraft) and examine the events, what happened to the aircraft,” said Mariano.
Officials have said the plane overshot the runway of the Jolo airport, failed to regain power, and crashed at the settlement area in Barangay Bangkal.
The plane was transporting Army soldiers from Cagayan de Oro City, to help fight Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu, when the incident happened.
Most of the 49 military personnel who perished were charred beyond recognition. As of yesterday, only 20 them have been identified.
“The AFP and PAF continues to follow up on the identification of the (other) fatalities so they can be brought home to their families in their respective hometowns,” the Air Force said in a statement.
Mariano said one of the fatalities had tested positive for COVID-19.
He said all the fatalities underwent the required swab test after the mishap and “unfortunately one of them tested positive.”
Mariano said all the passengers were tested for COVID-19 before boarding the aircraft. “All of them were cleared to ride for that mission,” he said.
Echoing earlier statements from other officials, Mariano also said the aircraft was in good shape before it left for Sulu. “Our air assets will not be released for flight unless its airworthy… During that day, our aircraft had no problem.”
He said all Air Force aircraft undergo pre-flight inspection.
He said the pilots also have a checklist to clear prior to a flight, including a check of the engine prior to its start, when it is running, while taxiing, and before lining up for take off.
“If all the parameters are not met, the aircraft wont be flown,” he said.
