THE military yesterday said the flight data recorder of the FA-50 fighter jet that crashed in Bukidnon last Tuesday has been recovered while the remains of its two pilots have been extracted from the crash site in Mt. Kalatungan and brought to Cagayan de Oro City.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr wants a speedy investigation into the incident.
The Philippine Air Force said the flight data recorder (FDR), also called the black box, will aid in determining why the aircraft crashed.
“What we’re going to find there are the usual, the data, flight data … the altitude, the airspeed, all the other things…” said Col. Ma Consuelo Castillo, spokesperson of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
Asked if the investigators can determine, through the FDR, if the aircraft encountered problems before crashing, Castillo said, “Yes. It’s part of the data that can be (taken) out of that.”
Castillo said PAF investigators are already in Mindanao, and will look into several angles — human, materiel and environment factors.
She said the Air Force will conduct “a very thorough and comprehensive investigation.”
Lt. Col. Francisco Garello, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Battalion pulled the remains of the pilots, Maj. Jude Salang-oy and 1Lt. AJ Dadulla, from the crash site at around 1 a.m. yesterday and walked for five to six hours to a pickup point in Pangantucan town, also in Bukidnon.
From the pickup point, the cadavers were transported by a military vehicle to Cagayan de Oro City, he said.
Garello said military vehicles cannot be sent to the crash site to pick up the pilots because the area is forested.
Castillo said the plan is to bring the remains of the pilots to the PAF headquarters in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City either today or on Saturday “so that we can give appropriate honors to our dear departed.”
“Definitely, there will be awards given to them as well as all the necessary assistance that will be given to their family,” she said.
Garello said ill-fated aircraft was totally wrecked and is being secured by soldiers at the crash site.
The FA-50 was among the “multiple” aircraft that took off from the Benito Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, Cebu last Tuesday to provide close air support to Army soldiers involved in a firefight with New People’s Army rebels in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.
It lost communication with the other aircraft minutes before reaching the target area, according to the PAF.
The military said the other aircraft were able to provide support to the ground troops during the anti-insurgency operation.
Garello yesterday said the 30-minute encounter resulted in the seizure of two rifles and personal belongings left behind by the rebels. No one was killed or injured on the military side during the clash with about 60 rebels.
As to NPA casualties, Garello said, “We have yet to see indications that there were casualties from the other side.” He said clearing operations were still ongoing of yesterday.
In Malacañang, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, said the president wants the investigation completed soon.
“Talaga pong pinamamadali po ng ating Pangulo ang maagarang pag-iimbestiga po dito. Kung saan nagkamali at kung ano pa ang maaaring maging remedyo sa mga ganitong klaseng pangyayari (The President wants an immediate investigation on this to determine what went wrong and what will be the remedies in such incidents),” she said.
MORE JETS
The PAF has proposed to the Department of National Defense (DND) the acquisition of 12 additional FA-50 fighter jets to bolster the country’s territorial defense capabilities.
In an online press briefing on Wednesday, Castillo said the additional FA-50s are to be acquired under the Rehorizon 3 of the AFP modernization program.
“That’s just a proposal from our end. But if it’s going to happen, it will depend on the DND,” she said.
The PAF has acquired 12 FA-50s from the Korea Aerospace Industries for P18.9 billion under the AFP modernization program. The delivery of the aircraft began in 2015 and was completed in 2017.
The crashed jet, with tail number 002, was among the 12.
“There’s a process for acquisition and the good thing is we have a proposal to have additional fighter aircraft so that we can complete the full squadron that we need to perform our mandate,” said Castillo.
FA-50s are the primary assets of the Air Force in the conduct of territorial defense operations. They are also playing a support role in the fight against internal security threats, including communist and terrorist groups.
Castillo said that in the 2017 terrorist attack on Marawi City, “the FA-50 was dubbed as the game changer because of its delivery of decisive firepower that weakened the enemy and gave our ground troops an advantage over the enemy.”
The PAF has grounded the remaining 11 FA-150s in its inventory, pending the investigation. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
