DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday reported to Congress that pilot error and defective instruments caused the July 4 crash of a C-130 plane in Sulu that killed 50 military personnel and three civilians.
Lorenzana said he was briefed on the report of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) last Tuesday night.
“One, for the C-130, is defective instruments or systems. Plus, of course, the reaction of the pilot was not also appropriate for the emergency, so nag-crash (it crashed),” Lorenzana told the House committee on appropriation’s hearing on the Department of National Defense’s proposed P297.1 billion national budget for 2022.
Lorenzana said the DND will submit a detailed report to the committee chaired by ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Yap within 24 hours.
The C-130 plane was transporting soldiers from Cagayan de Oro City to help in the fight against Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu when it crashed in Barangay Bangkal in Patikul after failing to land at the airport.
Fifty military personnel onboard the plane and three civilians on the ground died, while 47 other soldiers and four civilians on the ground were injured. Most of the fatalities in the crash were burned beyond recognition but the Armed Forces has said that it has already identified all the 50 fatalities.
The PAF’s report was tackled after Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate questioned the procurement of second-hand equipment, saying it would be best for the country to just procure brand new equipment.
Last June, a Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk helicopter of the PAF also crashed during a night flight training in Tarlac but Lorenzana said it was due to bad weather.
